


Spider-Mage

by zArkham



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adult Content, Character Death, Comic Book Violence, Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:29:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 38,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23914591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zArkham/pseuds/zArkham
Summary: While visiting a lab in London on a field trip while at Stonewall High, Harry Potter is bitten by a irradiated acromantula which turns him into the Spider-Mage. He then goes to Hogwarts before becoming part of a much larger and heroic world.(This story is set in my version of the MCU like my Ironheart fic which directly affects this story.)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Weird Science

**Author's Note:**

> It is by JKR’s writing alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the grace of coffee that thoughts acquire speed, the back acquires strains, the strains become a warning. The warning is that I make no money from this. It is by JKR’s writing alone I set my mind in motion.
> 
> All Marvel Characters are, I think, now are own by Darth Mickey of the House of Disney as well as some shared content with Sony Pictures.

**STORY NOTE** : As with most of my newer stories, Hogwarts students start at age 14, not 11. Also, again this is set inside my Ironheart version of the MCU. Obviously to marry up with that, the HP parts have been moved up. So Harry was born in 1996 and Voldemort was cast down in 1998.

**XxXxX**

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _Each player must accept the cards life deals him or her: but once they are in hand, he or she alone must decide how to play the cards in order to win the game._ ” **François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire)** – French Enlightenment Era philosopher, writer and historian – 1694 – 1778

**LAST UPDATED ON** : 04-29-2020

**MRC LABORATORY FOR MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, LONDON – JUNE 11** **th** **, 2010 – MORNING**

“Slow down Mary-Jane! We’ve got all morning to do this. Besides they _did_ tell us a lot of areas require us to be escorted,” Harry said with a sigh at the retreating back of his ginger friend.

Surprisingly his American friend actually listened for a change and she skidded to a stop and turned with a cute pout. “Harry Potter; human buzz-kill.”

Harry chuckled, “Hey someone has to keep a wayward Colonial in line. Who knows what might happen if you run amok? Tea thrown in the Thames?”

Mary-Jane made a face, “More likely I’d pull you out of another World War.”

Harry clutched his chest, “True, but only after you show up late per the usual!” The pair had been making American vs. England jokes since then met in their first year at Stonewall. While coming from different worlds, they had a lot in common as both lived alone with their respective aunts.

Mary-Jane reached out and took his hand, “Come on Limey; I know we don’t need an escort for the computer lab. You should like that, right?”

Harry sighed again but she was right. The University of London just had to have the latest computers and he was especially keen to see them.

Harry’s mind wandered a bit as he let his friend drag him down the hall. A lot of people thought Harry as a bit of a shut in. He rarely left the house when he wasn’t at school. Harry didn’t play any sports and mostly ignored kids his age. Certainly, he helped around the neighborhood, mowing lawns and the like but most of the neighborhood around Privet Drive knew Harry could usually be found at home.

While the neighborhood gossips had many theories, they’d never grasp the truth. A truth Harry himself would have found hard to believe himself if he hadn’t witnessed it firsthand. For all of his love of science and computers, Harry knew he had magic coursing through his veins.

A magic which had killed his own uncle.

Vernon had been gruff and maybe a bit too liberal with the belt when Harry was a child, but his uncle never treated Harry any different than his own son Dudley. Thus, it still haunted Harry that Vernon died because he tried to break up a fight between Harry and his cousin.

While Vernon might have had a short temper and even trended towards being verbally abusive at times, Harry knew Vernon had tried hard not to be like his abusive father. Dudley, however, seemed to channel not only his grandfather but his Aunt Marge as well. Affection, discipline, the belt and counselors did little to slow Dudley down. Worse, as Dudley became more anti-social, he quickly became paranoid that Harry was the favorite of his parents. This kicked off a year of sniping which grew into violence.

Harry watched as Mary-Jane chatted with a fellow schoolmate who was also looking for the computer lab. She had been a big help getting him over the tragedy even if she hadn’t known him till he started at Stonewall a month after Vernon died.

He unconsciously fingered his neck. Harry sometimes thought he could still feel Dudley’s hands around his throat as he tried to throttle him. The manic look in his cousin’s eyes still haunted his dreams. Often times the eyes glowed red so similar to one of his oldest nightmares. The glowing red eyes with the screaming which ended in a green light which always woke him up.

Harry knew Aunt Petunia knew something about that dream but she kept telling him he’d learn more when he got his Hogwarts letter.

A letter Harry had thought he wouldn’t get to see as his cousin seemed bent on strangling him. It might have been that thought, that feeling of regret about never learning about magic, the birthright of his parents, which sparked the accidental magical burst. It was just bad luck that Vernon had burst into the room and was trying to pry his son’s hands-off Harry when it happened.

Harry looked away from Mary-Jane so she wouldn’t see him wipe away the tears that always came when he remembered. While it had been magic, Dudley and Vernon might have well had grabbed an electrical cable. Dudley merely fainted but Vernon was obese. He’d been trying to lose weight but it ran deep in his family. With it came a weakened heart.

A heart Harry dealt the final blow to.

Worse was as Vernon lay dying, gasping for air as he clutched his chest, he hadn’t blamed Harry. Only told him not to let this destroy him. How he had a power few had and that he shouldn’t turn away from it because of an accident. Vernon had made Harry promise to do so before he died.

And yet here he was, three years later, mostly a shut in with his books and computers because of the guilt and the need to keep his aunt company. Petunia had taken Vernon’s death very hard. This was made worse when her own son had to be committed. Aunt and nephew quietly worked to pick up the pieces of their life, but it had not been easy. As Harry wiped the remains of his tears on his trousers, he knew Aunt Petunia often cried herself to sleep.

“Harry!”

“Hmmm?” Harry looked back with a start.

Mary-Jane looked at him crossly, “Off in the clouds _again_?”

Harry tried to smile but he knew Mary-Jane knew he’d be remembering that day again. She always did. “Sorry…it just hits me sometimes.”

Marry-Jane’s face softened before she grinned, “Come on tiger! Let’s go cheer you up. Now that I know where to go.”

Harry smiled in return. He always liked it when she called him tiger. Even if it was because of his fondness for his cat Fizzgig. Mary-Jane had once said he must be part tiger to get Fizzgig to behave as he did. Little did his friend know that the tiger-like pattern on Fizzgig was the least of the oddities given how she was actually a kneazle. Mrs. Figg had gifted her to him after the death of his Uncle to help him deal with the grief. If anything, Fizzgig dumbed down around Mary-Jane.

The two followed the other student down the hall, but Harry came to a stop as they passed a corridor which led to another series of labs which apparently dealt with radiation given the signs. For some reason, Harry felt a tug. Something down there seemed to be calling him.

“Hey Mary-Jane, can we take a quick detour?” Harry asked

Mary-Jane looked at the signs and shrugged. “Sure, although I think we see this later in the day. But yeah, it looks cool. Dad would have loved this!”

Harry smirked, “Your dad was sort of paid to love this sort of stuff. I mean that is why he was on the plane with Dr. Parker.”

Unlike Harry, Mary-Jane was much more over her parent’s death and mentions of it rarely bothered her. “Yeah well I think even Mom would have thought this was neat. Sure wish Peter could be here to see it.”

Harry laughed as they started down the corridor, looking through the windows at the various labs filled with working scientists. “I’m sure Peter is perfectly fine. I mean he got that summer intern spot in the Baxter Building project! While not a slot, there are kids worldwide who’d sell their mother to get a shot like that!” While never having met Mary-Jane’s old school friend in person, Harry and Peter had become friends via emails, Facebook and Skype.

Mary-Jane smiled but it was tinged with sadness. “I hope he finds some new friends. I still feel like I sort of traded Peter for you after Aunt Anna got her London job.”

Harry chuckled, “Oh you mean one anti-social, shut-in orphan living with his aunt for another?”

Mary-Jane made a face as she punched Harry in the arm lightly, “Don’t go there, tiger! We orphans living with our aunts need to stick together…even when on different continents and…”

Mary-Jane never finished her statement as she stumbled into another student. The two almost fell but Harry quickly reached out to steady the pair.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry! I should have been watching where I was going!” Mary-Jane cried out.

The bushy-haired girl just looked at Harry in surprise, “Wow! You have good reflexes! Thanks! And no worries; I wasn’t paying attention.”

Harry let go of both girls and held out his hand, Harry Potter, Stonewall High. This is my friend Mary-Jane Watson also of Stonewall.”

The girl shook his hand, “Hermione Granger, City of London Girl’s School.”

“Oh, how is that? My aunt threatens to send me there all the time when I’m bad.” Mary-Jane asked.

The bushy-hair girl laughed showing some large front teeth in the bargain. “Well it’s not a penal colony but yes it can be strict. I think quite a few of the girls were sent to be ‘reformed’ but that’s not likely to happen. The place is less reform school and a lot more liberal arts.”

Harry turned to look at what had interested the girl to the point of not seeing Mary-Jane coming. “Whoa! Those are some big spiders!”

“Aren’t they though? I’m glad they are on the other side of the glass!” Hermione said.

“Amen to that!” Mary-Jane agreed.

Harry looked at the lab with interest. One part of it was devoted to what could only be called a spider hive with various spiders, all large, which were crawling around. He wondered what they were doing to the spiders given that there were a lot of radiation warning signs. For some reason, that nagging feeling that Harry felt seemed centered on this room.

**OoOoO**

“I’ll catch up in a second, okay? It looks like they’re finishing up and I want to see if I can ask a question when they do.” Harry said.

Mary-Jane shrugged, “Fine. Well Hermione and I will save you a seat. I’m betting a lot of people are heading that way.”

Harry just nodded as he turned back to look into the lab as the girls left as they chatted animatedly. He had mostly ignored the two girls as they got to know each other. While Hermione wasn’t an orphan living with her aunt, it was odd to find out she was living in a flat with her nanny. From the things Harry had overheard, it sounded like Hermione was practically an orphan given the amount of time she spent with her parents.

As Harry had hoped, the two scientists finished up with whatever they were working on and grabbed their coffee cups and made their way to the door. With a buzz of security, the door opened.

“I’m telling you Frank, that spider is trouble. It keeps getting out and we _still_ don’t know what species it is!” one of the scientists said as he fumbled with his security card in putting it back in his shirt pocket.

“And I’m telling you, Stanley that Mr. Osborne doesn’t care. He wants results and I think the radiation protocols have shown great promise and we…oh hello! Can I help you?” said the scientist when he noticed Harry.

“Uh hi, I was just wondering, will this area be on the school tour later? It looks absolutely fascinating,” Harry asked.

Frank and Stanley looked at each other. Frank shrugged but Stanley shook his head, “I don’t think so kid. This area is pretty restricted. In fact, I can’t understand why they didn’t shut this wing down for today. You might want to try the 3pm lecture on radiation and mutations. That’s about as close as I think you’re going to get.”

Harry’s face fell but he nodded, “Thanks; I’ll do that.”

With a nod, Stanley turned to Frank, “I’m telling you Frank, we need to get into gear with this!”

Harry watched as the two went down the corridor arguing. It was obvious to him that their boss was putting the screws on them for results. It was also obvious that neither had noticed that the security door had failed to fully shut behind them.

Harry looked around but didn’t see any security cameras or any other personnel. Odd given the level of security Stanley implied, but who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth? With a wry grin, Harry pushed the door open and quickly went into the lab.

Careful not to disturb anything, Harry moved around and read what he could. He quickly realized that the work being done was actually familiar to him. It dawned on him that he should have guessed when he heard the name Osborne. Peter had told him that his father had been working on a medical breakthrough dealing with radiation applied to various venoms. One of his benefactors was OsCorp. Obviously, this lab was trying to recreate whatever Dr. Parker had been working on prior to his death (with his wife and Mary-Jane’s parents) in a tragic plane crash.

Harry noticed one part of the various spider hives was set well away from the others. Harry picked up a clipboard off the wall and read the summary. Supposedly the spider whose species the two scientists couldn’t figure out had been found only a mile away at King’s Cross Station of all places. The spider showed great intelligence and its venom was especially virulent.

Harry looked through the glass hoping to see the spider, but the hive looked empty. Just his luck! Get into a special lab to see a special creature only to have it taking a kip or something!

Harry went back to reading the summary and thus didn’t notice the movement on the floor near him. Yet just as when his friend had stumbled into Hermione Granger, Harry had good peripheral vision and the reflexes to match.

Thus, instead of the spider leaping onto his chest or neck, it landed on his hand as Harry move to deflect the object which suddenly leapt at him from the floor. Unfortunately, this action startled both Harry and the spider. One yelped in surprise while the other did what startled animals do: it bit down.

Harry let out a strangled scream as he fell back against a desk. He tried to fling the spider off him but all this caused was the spider to bite down harder. This in turn made Harry’s magic flare in a way it hadn’t since the day Vernon had died. With a curse and a flash of magic, Harry once again threw out his arm and this time the acromantula flew away to smack against the glass of its one-time prison. It fell to the floor dead from the combination of the burst of Harry’s magic and the impact.

Harry wasn’t in much better shape. Venom was racing up his arm and into his heart. Soon the venom was spreading throughout his body. A normal human would have been dead in the time it took for Harry to pull himself off the desk he’d fallen on. But Harry wasn’t a normal human.

Harry wasn’t a normal wizard either.

Normal wizards didn’t have a sliver of an evil soul trapped in a web of magical protection woven by his mother’s dying sacrifice. Normal wizards did not have blood wards linked to his magic by a powerful wizard. Added to this was the magical venom of the acromantula had been mutated by the radiation therapy designed to create a curative substance.

All of these things began to interact. Harry’s own magic and that of his family strove to keep him alive. His mother’s protection added to this with the added intent that Harry thrive. Unknowingly this in turn led to the sliver of Voldemort’s soul being used as a fuel to make this happen. The blood wards acted as a barrier which directed most of this into Harry’s own blood. Blood where his own magic lay. The venom could not be destroyed but all the forces in Harry’s body quickly did the next best thing.

It co-opted the venom into making Harry stronger.

Not that Harry could feel this. He was too busy trying not to scream in utter agony as it felt like every vein in his body was filled with lava. He blindly made his way to the door which still had not closed properly due to an as yet undetected fault. Harry managed to stumble down the corridor where he dimly recalled seeing a sign for a loo. He managed to make it into a stall before passing out.

**OoOoO**

Fawkes perked up as one of the many silvery instruments behind the Headmaster’s desk began to shrilly warble as another began to puff out greenish smoke. The phoenix looked around but knew its master was away. None of the portraits were awake.

Within a few minutes, the warbling quieted down to a murmur before stopping. The smoke producing item also stopped after ten minutes or so. With the office returning to normal, Fawkes gave the phoenix equivalent of a shrug, preened its feathers for a bit before going back to sleep.

**XxXxX**

**UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, LONDON – JUNE 13** **th** **, 2010 – EVENING**

It was the steady beeping which finally woke him.

Harry opened his eyes and at first saw only white. This confused him until he realized he was seeing the ceiling. A slow turn of his head made him realize two things. One, he was in hospital and secondly, he was somehow seeing fine without his glasses.

He took in his surroundings. From the amount of equipment in the room, Harry worried as to what had happened to him. This thought made Harry pause. What had happened to him? His memory was fuzzy. He had been on a school science outing with Mary-Jane, he could remember that. Harry seemed to recall meeting a bushy-haired girl. Granite? Manger? Someone with chipmunk like teeth.

The rest was just searing pain.

A door opened to his left and a nurse bustled in, “Oh finally awake, are we? Good! You gave us quite a scare young man! Good thing our facility is just across the quad from where you collapsed!”

Harry just stared at the nurse numbly as she talked as she checked various things. This would remain a constant over the next few hours as a parade of doctors, nurses, his Aunt Petunia and a university investigator all came and went.

Nobody seemed to know what happened to him and his hazy memory wasn’t helping. Physically he apparently had been in a bad way and yet was now also alarmingly fine. This was saying something given that he’d been almost clinically dead when rushed from the bathroom where he’d been found. Apparently, the next day had seen his body alternating between seemingly getting better on its own to once again crashing into a near death state. Yet this had stabilized by noon of the next day with him finally waking up a few hours later.

Now all the doctors could say was that whatever had happened to him seemed to have abated and they were simply waiting another day to keep him under observation.

For Harry’s part, other than his vision, he felt fine. If anything, he felt great except for being very hungry. His appetite was seen as a good thing by his doctors and his aunt. Aunt Petunia was not only ecstatic that Harry was okay but that his care was being paid for. Harry got the impression that while no one was sure what had happened, given where he was found probably meant the Lab had something to do with it. Harry figured the lab’s lawyer’s felt it better to pay the medical bills and move on rather than find out what really had happened which might lead to a big lawsuit.

Unknown to Harry, the two scientists he had met had been so upset at not only finding their specimen out of its enclosure but dead to boot that they didn’t make the connection between the spider’s death and Harry’s incident. It helped that neither scientist realized the student in question had been the boy they had talked to. The broken security door had been found by another on the team and so the idea that Harry might have been in the lab never came up.

The incident did cause lab security procedures to be upgraded with OsCorp footing most of the bill.

All of this meant an incredible event had happened and almost every party involved missed it. Yet just as the spider venom was making mutagenic changes in Harry’s body, his fate laid out by prophecy was also beginning to change.

**XxXxX**

**#4 PRIVET DRIVE, LITTLE WHINGING – JULY 30** **th** **, 2010 – AFTERNOON**

Harry wondered for the hundredth time that day when the blasted owl would finally arrive. Aunt Petunia had told him how Lily had gotten her Hogwarts letter the day before her 14th birthday. The two sisters had been ready for it given that Lily’s friend (which Harry could tell Aunt Petunia had not approved of) had gotten his letter the day before his own birthday.

Harry was eager to get to Hogwarts but not for the same reason as most Muggleborn or Muggle-raised might. Harry wanted to find out why he was now, for a want of a word, amazing. Because amazing was the best way Harry could describe the after-effects of the incident at the lab the month before.

It had started with his vision. At first it had been great given how his vision had gotten better. Then as the days passed while his vision sharpened further, two things began to happen. The first was his brilliant green eyes, the one trait from his mother people would remark upon, were turning red. Secondly, his eyes had Harry became more and more light sensitive. So now instead of wearing glasses to see clearly, Harry wore sunglasses to protect his eyes and cover up the change in color. Aunt Petunia had ordered him some colored contacts, but they had yet to come in.

But major, those changes had paled to what was to come! Harry’s appetite had stayed set on ‘high’ for a while and it soon became apparent why. While not a small child, Harry had always been lean. Aunt Petunia often had gotten the business when Harry had been next to Dudley because many felt she wasn’t feeding Harry properly. In the last month, however, Harry had put on weight. Most of which, it seemed, was muscle weight. The image in the mirror was that of someone who hit the gym hard every day. And every day those muscles were making him stronger. He already could pick up his bed and raise it over his head.

This, of course, brought up one of the more startling changes. His hands and toes had grown retractable talons. Not something you’d see on a cat or something, but smallish claws which came out of almost invisible slits in the tips of his fingers and toes. Harry found items gripped with these talons allowing him to hoist his bed with ease. He also found he could climb up the wall if he didn’t mind scratching it up.

Harry had also finally remembered enough to guess what had happened. In a dream…well more of a nightmare, he finally remembered the spider. From there it put a lot of his changes in perspective. The strength and the climbing claws certainly. He wasn’t sure about the vision but a little research made it seem likely that the spider in question lived in a dark environment. This research also brought up the last interesting thing Harry had noticed.

Whenever Harry got near something which might be dangerous, he got a queer tingling feeling. A little reading and research had led Harry to an article about possible precognitive abilities in some spiders which warned them of danger.

So, as he stared out the window, waiting for an owl to bring him a letter inviting him to a magical school, Harry had to wonder what other changes his body might be going through? He had worried he might start growing more arms or eyes but except for some odd tingling in his arms and wrists, the changes had seemed to have stopped for now.

As he got up to go to the kitchen to get some juice, a photo of him and Mary-Jane caught his eye. As much as he was going to miss his best friend, Harry had to admit it probably was for the best. It was going to take time for him to learn how to deal with his new abilities. Abilities which, on top of his magic, just made the promise he had made to his Uncle Vernon that much more poignant. He had some amazing powers and he needed to use them responsibly. While it might seem a good idea to somehow cash in on them by being a wrestler or thief, Harry knew that there was evil in the world and had the scar on his forehead to prove it.

A scar which had noticeably faded since his accident at the lab. Aunt Petunia had kept this old motivational item Vernon had got at some trade show. It was a mirror with a caption asking, “Is this the reflection of a winner?” His aunt had said that challenge had kept her going during some of her bad days after Vernon’s death and Dudley’s incarceration.

For Harry, it was a daily reminder of his changes as his red eyes stared back at him. Still, it was nice that the scar, the one thing which people always had stared at, had faded significantly. Looking at the mirror as he drank some juice directly out of the carton, Harry figured with a little of Aunt Petunia’s make-up, he’d be able to hide it completely.

A hoot brought Harry’s attention back to the window sill. A small brown owl with a piece of parchment sat there looking at him. Seeing Harry’s attention on him, the owl stood on one leg and stuck the other with the parchment towards Harry.

At last! Harry took the parchment with a grin. If there was going to be a place to hide his new abilities, a magical school seemed to be the perfect place for it!

**XxXxX**

**CHAPTER NOTES**

**Baxter Building Project** : For those who follow the Marvel Ultimate Universe, the BBP is a government funded project which takes prodigies and gives them a place to express themselves. In both the main Marvel universe and the MUU, Peter is shown to be one smart kid so it makes sense that he’d get picked. Also, I think that as the son of a noted scientists, there was probably a bit of nepotism as well as sympathy for him after his parents death.

**Dr. Parker** : Yes, in canon, Harry’s dad did some cool stuff. I am changing Mary-Jane’s dad to be an assistant to Dr. Parker instead of the failed writer and wife-beater of canon.

**Spider-Man 2099** : Harry’s aversion to light and the claws are taken directly from the 2099 version of Spider-Man. One, I might add, made a lot more sense than the canonical Spider-Man given how much we’re supposed to ignore that his ‘sticking’ power seems to magically work through his suit.


	2. Testing the Web

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Reminder: Harry has been aware of magic his whole life. While he has little direct experience with it, he has access to his Aunt Petunia (a squib) who didn't have the nasty rivalry with her sister that canon has. Also, Vernon didn't see Harry as a freak. And Harry also has access to Mrs. Figg. Also, unlike canon, Harry asks questions!

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens, we have to keep going back and beginning all over again._ ” **André Gide** – French writer and anti-colonialist (1869 – 1951)

**LAST UPDATED ON** : 05-03-2020

**DIAGON ALLEY, LONDON – AUGUST 21** **st** **, 2010 – MORNING**

Harry checked his contacts in the mirror of the small compact he always carried now. He hoped he'd be able to learn some way to hide the red of his eyes. Aunt Petunia said that his mother had learned how to enchant items at school. Since his eyes were now very light sensitive, Harry had taken to wearing wrap-around sunglasses which Mary-Jane quipped made him look like a bad Geordi LaForge cosplayer. Hopefully he could get them enchanted to hide the color of his eyes or maybe use a ring so he’d still be covered when he was in the shower or swimming. He’d never liked contacts and his new powers hadn’t changed that.

Of course one of his biggest worries Harry had had already been dealt with. Harry hadn't looked forward to being stuck up in Scotland without any internet or phone reception. He'd apologized for having to drop off the radar to both Peter and MJ, but then, a week later, Harry had gotten a surprise package. Peter had sent him a specialized laptop and phone! Harry had Skyped his friend to find that Peter had complained about it casually to Dr. Reed Richards who he had been interning for all summer.

As he listened to Peter explain things, it became apparent to Harry that Reed (it was hard sometimes to think of him as “Dr. Richards” given he was around 23) knew about magic. Peter had had been mystified about the generosity, but to Harry it seemed Reed wanted to test the laptop and phone in the dense magic of Hogwarts. Harry had to grin to himself that Peter had access to a man more interested in science than following rules!

Harry would be testing the phone today. Aunt Petunia had told him about Gringotts (which she'd been to a few times after his parent's death) and Harry felt the lobby would be the best place to try and get a reception. That is, of course, if the phone could connect in Diagon Alley at all. But Harry had faith in Dr. Richards. Regardless of the Negative Zone accident, Reed still was one of the leaders in dimensional fields. For all Harry knew, his phone was going to send the signal through the quantum realm or something.

Harry would also be testing how well he could get around without being recognized. Harry had heard how he was called the Boy-Who-Lived and there was even a book series about all the adventures he had supposedly been doing while growing up. Given his new condition, being mobbed was the last thing he wanted. Fortunately his accident may have helped out on that

The first thing that helped was he had the muscle tone few 14-year-olds had. Harry had also grown quite a lot since June and it didn't look like that would slow down anytime soon. Neither of his parents had been anything resembling tall and so Harry resigned himself to being short. Now he figured he'd get up to about 176 cm or so. Better than the 162 cm he'd been stuck at for the last two years.

Then there was the fact that since he'd been bitten by the spider, Harry had found his hair grew faster. Harry was already starting to have to shave and his hair was long enough to put into a small pony-tail. Luckily from what he'd already seen in the Leaky Cauldron that long hair for wizards was common. Given that his famous scar faded to almost nothing, Harry was confident that no one would recognize him. Of course a little make-up that his aunt got for him helped hide his scar even further.

In fact, beyond Tom asking him if he needed help getting into the alley, most only looked a few seconds longer at his visor-like glasses. Of course, given how close it was to the start of term, Harry figured they were used to seeing Muggleborn and raised coming through.

Harry had merely held up the goblin crystal that squibs like his Aunt Petunia were given by Gringotts to get into the Alley without a wand or needing a Magical to let them in. After tapping in the required code, Harry strolled into Diagon Alley like he knew what he was doing. Luckily his Aunt had a good memory for such things and had given him good directions. Harry had declined the offer to go with the Muggleborns with one Professor Sprout given he'd rather control how many strangers he came in contact with till he had a better handle on his powers or if wizards might have some sense that he was different.

If they did, it was rare given few gave him more than the same passing glance that the patrons in the pub had given him. Although Harry could already start to tell the pure-bloods from the others. They were the ones that would sneer at him. Aunt Petunia had already told him a lot about that. His mom had had to deal with that sort of prejudice her entire magical life and marrying his pure-blood father had made it worse. Mrs. Figg had told him a lot of similar stories, especially since even a squib from a wealthy pure-blood family usually got treated like dirt.

Harry smirked to himself; he was sure by the time he was through with Hogwarts; he'd make a lot of people sneer with some of the changes he was going to try and make!

One good thing about Gringotts was it being the biggest building made it easy to find regardless of whether you had good directions or not. As Harry walked past the guards, he tensed up a bit but again, neither guard did more than the cursory look one would expect from door guards. He made his way towards the shortest line and pulled out his phone. Harry was elated that it connected immediately. Other patrons soon began to stare as he talked briefly with his Aunt. By the time he ended the call, almost everyone in the lobby was muttering to themselves.

Harry only had one person in front of him before a middle-aged, ginger-haired wizard finally came over and breathlessly asked, “Was that a fellytone? I thought they needed wires and eckeltricity?”

Harry blinked at the man, “Excuse me?”

“A fellytone! That's what you were using; I'm almost sure of it! I've seen Muggles use them in red boxes in the streets,” the man said with an almost manic air of excitement.

“Uh, sir. First off, they're called _telephones_ and yes, they're powered by _electricity_. And where have you been? People have been using cellphones for around 15 years at least. Most people don't use standard, landline telephones much anymore,” Harry explained as he mentally urged the person in front of him in the queue to get their business done faster.”

“Really? I work around Muggles a lot and I hadn't really noticed. How interesting! Does this 'telephone' come with a plug? I collect plugs. Muggles make such interestingly odd things,” the wizard said with complete seriousness.

“Next!” the goblin teller yelled.

“That's me; no time for plugs I'm afraid,” Harry said as he quickly stepped up to the teller. Harry waited a moment till the plug-loving wizard moved away. “Are all wizards weird like that?” Harry asked.

The goblin shrugged, “He is of the Weasley clan. Most think them a bit odd. Any wizard working with anything to do with Muggles is usually seen as odd in some form or another. Arthur Weasley is almost the stereotype of such. Odd given his eldest son works for us as a curse-breaker and he is almost nothing like the man.”

Harry blinked at this, “So you're saying that a guy who works with Muggles is not only surprised by something in use for over a decade but can't even pronounce it properly? What are the rest of them like?”

The goblin smiled nastily with lots of teeth, “Incredibly annoying as I'm sure you will find out soon. Business?”

Harry pulled out his key, “I need to get some money discretely. I'm told my account is an old and cherished one. I'd hate for Gringotts to ruin our relationship by making a scene.”

The goblin made a nasty face as he took the key, but his eyes went wide before the sneer morphed into a neutral look. “Ah, yes; I see. Well then, Griphook!” the goblin called out. Another goblin ran up from a line of them sitting on a bench against the wall. “Take this client to his vault...discretely.”

Harry gave the goblin a thumbs-up which was promptly ignored.

**OoOoO**

Harry ate his lunch slowly in the rather seedy place in Knockturn Alley. For all its appearance, the food was as good as the two wizards he had been behind in line in the bookstore had raved about. Of course he had been stopped no less than five times as he made his way to the colorfully named _Behind the Cyclops Eye_ pub. Even the barkeep had tried to warn him off. Little did any of them know that Harry’s 'danger sense' would alert him to trouble.

While he didn't want to find out, Harry was pretty sure his finger talons would get him out of any trouble he ended up in. Still, he did take a page out of the lessons he'd learned playing D&D at the Surrey library; his back was to the wall and he had a clear line to an exit. So while a lot of the patrons still would turn and stare at the “queer Muggleborn” when they thought he wasn't looking, Harry just ate in silence as he mulled what he'd seen and learned today.

In the course of getting his gold, his school supplies, his wand along with a post owl he'd named Hedwig, he was coming to dread the upcoming school year. One would think finding you had the brother wand to the maniac who had killed his parents would worry him more, but it just didn't register. While he didn't have the smarts that Peter had, Harry liked to think he had the brains to do some good work in computers. His math scores were good and his art teacher felt he could make it as a draftsman.

Because of this, Harry had thought about going into engineering. He figured between his art and computer skills; he'd kill it at CAD work. Mary-Jane had teased him about being exposed to the Grunnings assembly plant at too early of an age. Of course she wanted to be an actress so she didn't think too much of the intellectual grind engineering required. How she put up with him and Peter was something neither boy could understand but were grateful for.

Now all of that was in jeopardy because of Hogwarts. Bad enough he was going to have trouble keeping up with his normal course work, but he'd just lag farther behind in technology as the months went by. Even if he dropped out to do self-study or use tutors after his OWLs, Harry knew it would be hard to get a jump back into what was cutting edge. Magic was awesome, but right now it seemed the price for learning it was steep.

Harry was already dreading if he was actually forced to use a quill. Luckily, he'd learned how to use a calligraphy pen as part of his art classes. Still the primitive nature of the Magical world weighed on his mind. While others might see magical torches that never went out as neat, Harry saw it and so many other examples of Magicals refusing to change.

Of course magic probably played hob with how the Magical economy worked. Harry figured that perhaps things changed so slowly due to the low population and the fact that there really wasn't much need for mass production and thus industrialization. Still, Harry couldn't figure out why anyone would want to use a quill and inkpot when getting modern pens should be a snap.

His brush with Arthur Weasley hadn't filled him with confidence. Harry had to wonder what the man did that he worked with normal people but hadn't twigged to the fact that people walking around talking into a small device was the same as the land-line phones found in phone booths.

Still, the magical world did solve one of the problems regarding his new powers. Harry had found he could climb on almost anything to include even metal. The problem was while he could cut slits in gloves for his hand talons, the same couldn't be said about his shoes. Luckily, he'd found a cobbler tucked away in a shady alley who barely blinked when he had to show him what he needed. Harry wasn't sure what an animagus was or why he was too young to be trying to become one, but if it kept the cobbler from thinking it wasn't that out of the ordinary, he was all for it. Harry had made a point to find a book about them while he was getting his textbooks. If there was some accepted magical way to explain away his powers, he'd take it!

Harry wiggled his toes in his new shoes. While the cobbler had harrumphed about having to make them look enough like Muggle shoes to go unnoticed, the little house-elf creature seemed overjoyed at having a challenge. While the little being had been a shock, Harry was even more shocked that he was able to pick the completed shoes up in only an hour. Again Harry had to wonder how the Magical economy worked. Given the little time the shoes had taken to get made, Harry wondered what the cobbler did most of the day? On the other hand, Harry hadn't gotten most of the charms put on the shoes that he figured most wizards did. He felt he had time to get those later on. He wanted to test these out first before spending more gold.

Harry's spider-sense tingled a bit as a group of wizards came in. Or he thought they were all wizards. One of them might be a woman, but it was hard to tell given the person was, being charitable, ugly as sin as was one of the wizards who had to be related given his awful looks.

Harry watched as they ordered drinks and then went to sit down. There they hunched over and talked in low tones. Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes. These people couldn't project “We're up to something!” more if they tried. Still, the rest of the pub seemed content to pretend they didn't exist. Of course that seemed to be par for the course in Knockturn Alley from what Harry had seen.

Harry went back to eating and leafing through a book about arithmancy. One of the reasons Harry had gotten Hedwig was he figured he'd need to send mail to Magicals at some point. It turned out to be sooner than he expected. Looking at the textbook, Harry wanted to ask if he could test into the class now and not wait till his Third Year. Harry knew he would be behind in magical theory, but he figured with all the gold he had access to, someone would be willing to tutor him. He suspected that Runes might be similar. Harry hoped he could swing it given if he started now, he could take his OWLs in Third Year and NEWTs in those subjects in his Fifth Year. That way if he dropped out of Hogwarts after that, he'd at least have two subjects scratched off the list of self-study and tutoring.

Harry's spider sense tingled lightly again. He looked up to find one of the ugly ones looking at him intently. Harry could tell now that it was indeed a woman. She nudged the other ugly wizard who Harry suspected was her fraternal twin given his looks and almost identical body size. The wizard looked at Harry for a moment before turning to the witch and shaking his head. This didn't seem to please the witch and the two argued for a moment before the wizard turned away to talk to one of the wizards who looked like he had gorilla in his ancestry.

Harry wondered if the witch had recognized him. Aunt Petunia always said how much he resembled his dad except for the eyes. While the few photos Harry had borne this out, Harry still felt he had a lot more of his mother's features than people admitted. But, before his eyes got better, Harry thought that with the hair and the glasses, it would be easier just to see James over Lily.

Harry finished his meal and packed up his stuff. He noticed that the witch was still watching him while trying not to look like it and failing. Harry sighed since his spider-sense continued to tingle at a low level. So Harry went up to the barman and asked if the wizard could shrink Hedwig's cage for him. He had Hedwig hop onto his left arm and was gratified that she didn't need to hold onto him hard enough for her talons to be a problem.

With the cage stashed in his bag, Harry went out and turned to his owl, “Okay girl; the pet-store guy said you owls are smart. Do you think you can fly to my home?”

Hedwig blinked before letting out a bark which sounded almost like the owl was saying, “Duh!” With a leap, Hedwig took to the air and was off. Harry wondered how owls got in and out of the Alley given the “sky” was actually a magical dome spelled to look like the current weather. He figured they probably had plenty of little entries for owls all over. Still, Harry had to wonder what the London Audubon Society thought about all these owls just appearing and disappearing around Tottencourt Road all the time.

His spider-sense tingled harder so Harry made his way towards an alleyway he'd seen earlier. He figured he could duck into it and see what was going on. As he turned into the alley, he caught a glimpse of the witch from the pub following him. Harry quickly took stock of the alley and found a place he could stash his bag. He'd just leapt up onto the wall of the alley and hid behind a balcony when the witch came around the corner.

She quickly took out her wand and began to creep slowly into the alleyway. It was obvious she was looking for Harry. She didn't look up, however, so as she got further along, the frown that seemed to be her default look deepened. The witch passed by him and started to mutter to herself. It was obvious to Harry that she was confused given there was a big container blocking the alleyway further up and Harry would have not had the time to squeeze by it before she'd come around the corner.

Finally the witch turned around as if to leave but something caught her eye. Harry's heart sank as the witch went over to where he had stashed his stuff. It seemed Harry was going to have to do something after all. With a flip that seemed to come naturally to him, he landed behind her. “I wouldn't, if I were you.” Harry warned.

The witch turned with a yelp, but her face lit up on seeing him, “Well, well, well, the Potter brat at last! Alone in Knockturn Alley. Spend all those years in hiding and before your first day of school you wander into the last place you should be.”

Harry just cocked his head to the side, “I think you'll find I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you. Besides, the last time some evil wizard went after me, he ended up dead.”

The witch hissed like an angry cat, “How dare you profane the memory of the Dark Lord! You'll die for his fall and the injuries your father and godfather heaped upon House Carrow!”

Even before she began to weave her wand, Harry's spider-sense was already guiding him to leap to the left. Whatever spell the witch cast made short work of a rubbish bin which exploded into fragments.

“Fuck!” Harry couldn't help but exclaim. He hadn't expected this witch to go from stalking directly to murder. An attempted mugging maybe, but murder? He dodged again as another spell shot towards him. The third spell was an area-effect spell that Harry avoided only by flipping up onto the wall.

“What sorcery is this?” the witch screeched, her eyes wide in shock as she took in Harry sticking to the wall and looking down at her.

“The power of science!” Harry couldn't help but yell as he kicked off towards her. He bounced off the other wall and landed close enough to backhand the witch into more rubbish bins. Harry had wanted to hit harder, but he really didn't know his strength limits.

Unfortunately Harry hadn't counted on Magicals being a lot tougher than normals. The witch barely hesitated before casting another spell as she struggled to get to her feet. Again, Harry wasn't sure what the spell would have done if he hadn't avoided it, but it made his spider-sense shriek something awful.

“You blood-traitor filth! How dare you lay your hands on your betters! Now you die! Avada Kedavra!” she screamed.

Harry didn't need his spider-sense to be moving before she finished her spell. Harry had learned from Mrs. Figg about the Killing Curse when he mentioned his dreams with the green light. Now that Harry had his Hogwarts letter, both Mrs. Figg and his Aunt Petunia were willing to give a lot more specifics regarding the magical world.

Because of those stories, it was obvious that this woman must have been part of the Death Eaters; one who probably had gotten out of prison by claiming the Imperious Curse. Mrs. Figg’s own husband had been killed by a Death Eater who claimed it. She said it was ludicrous and the real reason that the excuse worked is a lot of galleons had been passed under the table to make it happen.

Regardless of the reason this witch wasn't rotting in Azkaban, Harry wasn't going to give her another chance to send him to his parents. He crouched slightly before springing over her with a flip. As he did so, Harry raked her with his talons. Sadly, all he managed was to shred her cape. Still, it wrenched her around enough that his next strike ripped her throat out.

The witch barely gurgled before falling to the ground dead. Harry's first thought was he was lucky the force of the strike had made the witch turn so the gush of blood that had spewed from her throat had missed him.

Harry looked down at his bloodied hand as the realization hit him. He'd just killed the witch. Harry hadn't really thought about it. His body had simply reacted to the threat. Did he even consciously commit to killing her? Or was this part of his new spider powers? Whatever the reason, Harry wasn't going to hang around to think on it. He reached down and cleaned his hand of the witch's blood on her cape.

Given the lack of modern scientific practices, Harry figured either any magical police would miss any DNA or fingerprints or there was some spell that would catch him no matter what he did. Again, he wasn't going to stick around to find out. Luckily Harry figured that a dead witch in a back alley in Knockturn Alley wasn't going to be front page news.

So Harry grabbed his bag and climbed over the container to head back out into Diagon Alley and the rest of his shopping. Hopefully he'd be able to get out of the Alley before anyone found the body.

**OoOoO**

Amelia Bones turned into the alley and stepped under the yellow and red stripped rope that blocked it. While most Magicals ignored Muggles, Amelia had picked up quite a few tricks from her liaisons with the London Metro Police and other agencies. The colored rope was a spell she had commissioned to take the place of Muggle police tape. Not that most wizards, to include too many of her own aurors would know that.

She walked up to Kingsley Shacklebolt who was talking with a Wizpat. Amelia figured that the Wizard Patrol officer either found the body or someone actually reported it. Not that that sort of thing happened too often in Knockturn Alley, but occasionally the darker elements would rather get an auror investigation over and done with than let it drag out and bring more scrutiny.

Amelia smirked to herself; cockroaches hated the light. “What do we have, Shack?”

Both wizards nodded and said, “Director.” Shacklebolt continued after the Wizpat moved away to give them some privacy. “Sort of a mess, frankly. Victim is Alecto Carrow. Cause of death is having her throat ripped out. However, before she died, she cast two cutting curses, a blasting curse, the organ-expelling curse and ended with the killing curse.”

Amelia raised an eyebrow, “An interesting group of spells. Obviously, whatever attacked her meant business.”

“Or whoever she attacked was good,” Shacklebolt said. “Beyond her throat, her cape was shredded. The pattern is consistent with a hand. That would imply a vampire or werewolf but given the time of death was around noon and the full moon isn't for another week, that rules those attackers out. Right now I'm leaning towards an inferi, but the spells used aren't consistent with that. You'd expect fire spells and the AK doesn't work on inferi.”

“Unless she was trying to kill whoever was controlling it. Still, I agree that you'd expect at least one fire spell to at least impede an inferi. Any magical residue?”

“Shacklebolt shook his head, “More weirdness. The tests came back with something akin to an acromantula, but unless someone crossed a human with an acromantula in some sort of abominable ritual, it doesn't make any sense.”

“So what do we know leading up to the attack?” Bones asked.

Shacklebolt looked at his notes, “So far we don't know much. However before the time of death we've place Alecto with her brother, Hiram Goyle and Silas Crabbe having drinks at the Behind the Cyclops Eye pub. Luckily for us, they were there to talk to Mundugus Fletcher. He wouldn't say much, but I got the impression that he was being asked to help sell restricted items they wanted to unload in France.”

Amelia nodded, “Sounds reasonable. Given the joint DMLE and Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department push on such items, I can see them wanting to sell rather than risk being raided. Then what happened?”

“Well another patron Officer Thorpe was able to find said he had overheard Alecto arguing with her brother. She felt that a teen eating at the pub was Harry Potter. He didn't believe her, but that she left the pub after the boy did.”

Amelia blinked at this, “Come again? Harry Potter?”

Shacklebolt shrugged, “That's what he said. So the boy leaves, she follows and at some point, ends up dead in this alley.”

“Who found the body?” Amelia asked.

“That would be Officer Thorpe. Given all four the them are on our watch list, one of our Alley informants called it in when he spotted them all together. By the time Officer Thorpe arrived, Alecto had already left. He observed, disillusioned, till they left. He had planned to follow them to see if they had further business but saw the body as he passed the alley. The use of an AK easily set off his Dark Magic detector.”

Amelia sighed, “What I wouldn't give to be able to have those strung throughout the alley.”

Shacklebolt chuckled, “And all it would take is half the gold in Gringotts.”

“Any word what happened to the other three?” Amelia asked.

“They apparently went back to the apparition point they arrived at. If they knew Alecto had been dead by an hour or so, they didn't show the least indication,” Shacklebolt said after checking his notes again.

“So what about the Harry Potter angle? I know he's aware of the magical world even if he lives in the Muggle world. But the Muggleborn and raised school trip isn't till Sunday.” Amelia said with a frown.

“And given he is aware, the last place you'd expect to find him is in Knockturn Alley,” Shacklebolt agreed.

“So do we know anything about the boy seen in the pub?” Amelia asked.

“Not much. From what Officer Thorpe has gathered and our preliminary investigation, the boy is likely a first year given he bought an owl and was spotted going into Ollivanders. However, the people I talked to said while dressed like a Muggle, the boy already had a wizarding look to him with a pony-tail. Also, the boy was alone and yet went everywhere in the Alley like he'd been here before. From the description, the boy matches Potter or at least the last time I saw a picture of the boy. The main difference, though, is this boy was wearing an odd set of glasses. Everyone talked to mentioned it. Potter has never been seen, to my knowledge, wearing anything like them.

“But even if it is Potter, we are left with what was he thinking going into Knockturn Alley to eat? And if Alecto followed him, did she attack him but was killed by someone protecting him?” Amelia wondered.

Shacklebolt shrugged, “Possibly. A lot of people would defend the savior of magical Britain. On the other hand, those types generally aren't found in back alleys in Knockturn either. That and we're back to what exactly killed Alecto. The boy, whoever he might be, certainly couldn't have done it given he just got his wand today. The only thing I can think of is if the boy did kill Alecto, I'm thinking he's actually a Muggle-raised and had some way to summon whatever killed Alecto. But that's almost as outlandish as a theory as anything else we have. As I said, this is a weird case. Plus, will Amycus Carrow and the rest push for an inquiry? I can see the old pure-bloods wanting to find her killer on general principle. On the other hand, it's not like being killed in Knockturn Alley under suspicious circumstances is out of the ordinary.”

“And even if she hadn't died, we'd have put her into Azkaban for her Unforgivable,” Amelia mused. “Well keep digging. Put in a good word for Officer Thorpe. I know how easy it is to ignore a Dark Magic alert when you're by yourself, especially doing covert work.”

“What about Harry Potter?” Shacklebolt asked.

“What about him? Even if that boy was Harry Potter, we only have the hear-say about what was said and that's certainly not enough to question him. Also, unless something changes, I don't want to deal with Dumbledore. Besides, we'll get eyes on Potter at King's Cross come September. If it was him and things have changed, we can question him then. But if we do, you can bet Ted Tonks will pop out of the woodwork and press for all the loop-holes our supposed former Death Eaters have used so successfully. Muggle-raised or not, Potter is still from an Ancient and Most Noble House and the rules are stacked in his favor. Worse, him being a minor gives us fewer options. For now, I'd rather keep the Boy-Who-Lived out of it.” Amelia ordered.

“Yes ma'am. Although I have to say I sort of hope that it was Potter and he was somehow involved,” Shacklebolt said slowly.

“Why on earth can you think that?” Amelia asked.

Shacklebolt grinned sheepishly, “Well the whole reason Dumbledore forced Potter on his Muggle relatives against our traditions was to protect him. Now he's back in our world with all the dangers that implies. If Alecto did attack him...well she's dead and he's not. Bodes well for the next time someone takes a run at him.”

Amelia scoffed at this, “Don't tell me you've bought into the whole Boy-Who-Lived hype. We both know he had nothing to do with the Dark Lord's death. While the Unspeakables aren't exactly sure what James and Lily did, ritual wise, a 15-month old toddler is only going to be involved as a target. If he hadn't bothered to try and wipe out the toddler, well we'd probably be slaving away under the Dark Lord's reign. I highly doubt there is anything special about Harry Potter.”

Shacklebolt nodded, “Yeah, I know. Still, it would be nice if he was a hero like right out of those books. It would making having to read them to my kids over and over again worth it.”

Amelia sighed, “Sadly Shack, unless Merlin or Captain America return from the dead, we're the only heroes everyday witches and wizards are going to get. And worst for us, even heroes have a lot of paperwork to do on this.”

Shacklebolt groaned. He'd really been trying not to think about how late he was going to be getting home due to all the reports he'd have to get done. Maybe that's why he wished there was some sort of magical super-hero; then they would be the ones having to do all the hand-numbing work and allow him some time with his kids.

With a sigh at this flight of fancy, Shacklebolt followed Amelia back towards Officer Thorpe and the other aurors.

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S** **NOTES**

**zArkham MCU** : My take on the MCU is less centered on the Infinity Stones and more about a general Good Guys versus HYDRA. One part of the Harry Potter Universe that impacts on this is the Red Skull's Thule Society. While he (the Red Skull) was all about science, there was another faction that was more mystical. This being the part that help Hitler "dig for trinkets in the desert" - This was the part of the Thule Society run by Gellert Grindelwald. Due to this, many Magicals are aware of Captain America given he fought against all of the various groups working to win the fight for the Axis powers

  
  
  
  



	3. First Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I am new to AO3, most readers here won't know of the bulk of my work on Fanfiction.Net and how I have done EXTENSIVE alterations to JKR's canon spells. I'm just OCD about certain things. Any spell I change, I have written out at the end with the explanation and often why I changed it. I have an entire Excel spreadsheet of these spells if anyone is interested.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead. ._ ” (The End of the Affair) **Graham Greene** – English Novelist – 1904 – 1991

**LAST UPDATED ON** : 05-03-2020

**PLATFORM 9¾, KINGS CROSS STATION, LONDON – SEPTEMBER 1** **st** **, 2010 – MORNING**

Harry barely stumbled as he came out of the floo. In fact, as insane as this mode of magical transport was, Harry didn't seem to have the same trouble even veteran users seemed to have. Harry felt it was probably because of his new spider powers. Of course the floo did cause a spike of panic in his spider-sense that was a tad painful, but he'd take it overshooting out of the floo or doing a face-plant on exiting. Both of those he'd seen since his first journey to Diagon Alley.

Fizzgig surprised him by not yowling but Hedwig was not as sanguine and was making crabby barks as Harry pulled his trunk towards the crimson train whose engine was sending up a cloud of steam. Harry wondered at that. Why use steam if you have magic? If not using magic, why use steam? He could almost feel the headache coming on. So much of the magical world made little sense. Worse is how so many Magicals, when asked, rarely had a decent answer for why so many things were done a certain way. They all said a variant of, “We’ve always done it this way.”

This in the face that, on further digging by Harry, a lot of things taken as old and venerable traditions were actually fairly recent. In fact, when Harry thought about it in relation to how long Magicals lived, many of these changes were practically fresh out of the box. It was startling to him to find that the current Headmaster of Hogwarts and Chief Warlock was born, Charles Dickens was publishing the first installment of Great Expectations, Queen Victoria was the current monarch and America was plunging into their Civil War. Even more amazing was Madam Marchbanks, a witch whose office he'd had to send some paperwork through due to his desire to take Arithmancy and Runes as a First-Year, was born around the time when British colonies in the Americas revolted!

So having such people in charge and yet having the general public not aware of just how recent many things were showed a worrying level of a lack of historical memory. Harry likened it to how after WW II, the slogan was “Never Again!” and yet that lasted barely 40 years when the creeping genocide in the Balkans was allowed to drag on far too long before Europe sluggishly got around to doing something. Harry used to cut the grass of a veteran of the IFOR mission and the tales he told were chilling.

Harry was happy he seemed to have picked the good time to arrive. Again Harry hadn't wanted to go with the escorted group of Muggleborns. Since no one had come knocking on his door after the incident in Knockturn Alley, Harry had made a few return trips to Diagon Alley. His main reason was to get some more shoes made as the prototype ones he got had worked out so well. So Harry need shoes and boots to match his magical and school clothing.

It was during these trips that Harry had went to a shop which dealt with glasses. Harry had already found out that few Magicals wore glasses. Those that did wear them had them because they were enchanted to see things the normal eye couldn't see. These were usually magical cops or other people who did inspections. The other reason was to have some curse or other magical malady or spell damaged that magic couldn't cure. Men in the Potter family had a history of wearing glasses; his aunt had said Lily had told her it was the result of a curse dealt during the long running feud with a House Malfoy.

However, as with the cobbler, Harry had been surprised that the optometrist (if one could call him that) had barely batted an eye on seeing Harry's eyes. He was even more shocked to find that plenty of Magicals had odd eyes. Apparently between curses, magical experimentation, the expression of one's animagus form and a host of other factors made the eyes the most common thing to be affected.

As Harry was being fitted with his new glasses, he learned the sports instructor at Hogwarts had eyes like a hawk. Since she was the main referee for the magical sport of Quidditch played at school, the optometrist thought that all the time in the air on her broom, straining her eyes to catch fouls caused the sharper vision of her hawk animagus form to bleed through permanently.

This had made Harry worry at bit. He'd rather not sprout extra arms or eyes later in life! Then again, his spider-powers wasn't due to his animagus form. A book on the subject he'd gotten on his first trip pointed out that animal spirit manifestations were not evenly spread out among Magicals. This made Harry wonder that even if he had an animagus form, would it now be a spider?

Harry threaded the few clusters of families taking the last chance to chat before the student boarded the train. Few looked at him twice. With his new glasses and wearing Magical street clothes, Harry didn't stand out. It helped that he'd only been out in public long enough for him to get out of his Aunt's car and grab his trunk and Hedwig's cage before heading into the Leaky Cauldron.

As he boarded the train, Harry was thankful for his new glasses. While he finally decided not to actively hide his red eyes, he still had the problem of his eyes being light sensitive. However, the glasses he wore acted as sunglasses even from the side. This while still looking like ordinary glasses! In this case, Harry didn't care if magic made no sense. He was just glad to get his peripheral vision back. Wearing the visor had been a chore. While his spider-sense would alert him to danger, normal people had startled him far too often just by him not seeing them as they approached.

He knew he'd be fielding questions about his red eyes for a while. However, Harry figured that with the charm on his glasses to show his eyes being the green they used to be; he'd keep the explaining down to a dull roar.

Harry made his way towards the middle of the train. He felt people wanting to hide or school cliques wishing for some solitude would head for the back. The newer students, he figured, would cluster at the front. So Harry decided he'd rather get into an empty section that would fill up with older students who'd probably ignore him if he just acted cool. He found one such cabin with only one other student in it. Harry stuck his head in and asked, “Mind if I take up a seat?”

The older teen (he looked to be about 17 or 18) looked up from the book he was reading. He looked Harry over a bit before saying, “Sure, but I'm saving a seat for one of our prefects.”

Harry shrugged, “I'll be on my best behavior and keep any comments about my family's illegal kneazle breeding business to a minimum.”

The other teen snorted at this and went back to his reading as Harry started to put his kit away. It wasn't till Harry let Fizzgig out of his cage that the other boy spoke up, “Is that your cat? You know you're only allowed one pet.”

Harry turned and stuck out his hand, “Well I guess that's a good segue as any into introductions. Hello, I'm Heir Harry Potter of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. As an heir, I'm allowed an owl regardless if I have another pet or not.” At least Harry hoped that was still true given the book Harry had picked up on House etiquette had been old. However the person who helped him at Flourish & Blotts couldn't think of a more modern edition.

Harry was a little surprised how the other teen practically leapt to his feet and shook his hand, “Edward Chambers. Our family is a sept to House Applebee. It's an honor to meet the Boy-Who-Lived!”

“The honor is mine as long as you _never_ call me that again. I can say with some certainty I'm the only one who witnessed the events that night and I can tell you that whatever caused the Dark Lord's defeat was all on my parents. I mean come on; I just had turned 15 months old that day. Hardly ready to take on an evil wizard with my pacifier and binky,” Harry said in a tone he hoped wasn't disrespectful but still got his point across.

Edward blinked at this, but he nervously laughed as he sat back down, “Yes...well I guess you probably are already sick of it.”

Harry sat as well and Fizzgig jumped onto his lap for pets, “Can't really say. I've kept to the down and low till now. I only just found out about the kid's books written about me. So I'm figuring everyone is going to think they know me and they'll all be wrong given I grew up with my Muggle relatives on my mum's side. So I didn't really interact too much with the Magical world till I got my Hogwarts letter.

Edward looked him up and down again and then at his trunk and book-bag, “Well you've certainly adapted quickly. A quick study, eh? Looks like you could be a shoo in for Ravenclaw.

“About that; how much of which house you get into is you and how much is your family histories?” Harry asked. “My parents were both Gryffindors but obviously I didn't grow up with them. From what I've read, it seems to run in families. But I was wondering about how that works. I read once how kids, well Muggle ones, often have more in common with their grand-parents than their own parents. Various reasons for this were given but if it's true, I'd expect you'd have kids sorting closer to their grand-parents than their own parents.”

Edward thought about it for a moment. “I'm not sure. I've noticed that there does seem to be a grouping of families trend towards Ravenclaw and Slytherin or Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. There are a lot of historical, cultural, and quite frankly ideological issues involved. It's a good question; if you get sorted into Ravenclaw, you should put it up on the Oracle Board and see if it gets picked up.”

“Oracle Board?” Do you have psychics in Ravenclaw?” Harry asked.

Edward laughed, “No, it's not like that. We have a group of students which act as a sort of a council which take up questions put forth by the house. A vote is taken and selected questions get put out for groups to take up. The head of Ravenclaw, Professor Flitwick, likes to give academic extra credit and house points for a well-researched response to the question.”

“Oh, so it's a crowd-source Google search; that's cool,” Harry said as he noticed a ginger-haired family walk past. It was being led by that odd wizard, Arthur Weasley. The number of children he was shepherding showed that he might not know much about Muggles but he could get busy with the best of them.

“Google...that's one of those Muggle computer things, right?” Edward asked.

Harry turned back with a smile, “Well at least you pronounced it correctly. It is but it's less about the computer and more of it is a website on the World Wide Web. It's called a search engine. You type in your question like, 'when can I plant tomatoes in Yorkshire?' and the Google algorithm will show articles or websites that may answer that question.”

Edward blinked at this, “Really! That's extraordinary!”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, it's brilliant when you have some weird question that now you don't have to run down some expert to find the answer. There is this Muggle device in our kitchens called a garbage disposal. It's in the sink and when you turn it on, it grinds up all the small bits of food and the like. I had to replace ours last year and I thought I'd have to get a professional to do it. Well there are lots of people who make videos, they're like small movies if you know what those are.”

Edward nodded.

“Well there you go. I watched this guy go through the process of installing it and was able to do it myself. The internet is filled with stuff like that. It's cool,” Harry explained.

“Wow! I wish we had something like that in Ravenclaw!” Edward exclaimed.

“Maybe you should put the idea on the Oracle Board then. Maybe it’s something which can be adapted like this train was from a Muggle design,” Harry said with a sly grin.

Edward chuckled at that but the cabin door opened at that point and a well-dressed, brown haired wizard who looked to be the same age as Edward walked in. He stopped abruptly at seeing Harry.

“I take it this is the prefect I need not talk about my family's illegal kneazle breeding farm around, right?” Harry said with a straight face.

Edward laughed at the incredulous look on the other wizard's face, “Roger, I'd like to introduce you to Heir Harry Potter of the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. Heir Potter, this is my friend and newest prefect of Ravenclaw, Roger Davies of the Noble House of Davies.”

Harry bowed slightly in the manner he hoped was the correct distance for a higher House member greeting a lesser House member. He seemed to get it right because Roger was smiling as he bowed in return before offering his hand, “It's an honor to meet you.”

Harry looked at Edward, “He gets bonus points for not calling me the Boy-Who-Lived!”

In short order, the three teens were settled even though Roger had said he would have to leave after the train got going due to the prefects meeting. Harry learned both were chasers on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Thus he wasn't surprised that as the Hogwarts Express got going, they were joined by the last Ravenclaw chaser Jeremy Stretton along with the other Fifth Year prefect, Sidhe Wildsmith.

Harry was gratified that the older students quickly got over their Boy-Who-Lived awe and after a few questions of him, seemed content to let him go back to their reading as they chatted about their various summer adventures. After about 20 minutes, Roger and Sidhe left for their prefect meeting leaving Edward and Jeremy to chat about the upcoming Quidditch season. Both seemed worried about the stress from their OWL year impacting on their game.

Harry continued to go through his arithmancy book. After corresponding with both Professors Vector and Babbage, he had been sent a test for both subjects (somehow charmed against cheating) to evaluate his levels in math and potential in Runes. After returning it, both approved him taking their courses early with the provision that if he could not secure tutors for both courses to help him with magical theory at the Third-Year level, they would have to drop him from their courses.

Luckily for him, he'd found such in an unlikely place. He had asked the goblins about provisions in his parent's will and how much he actually owned. Harry figured that as an Ancient and Most Noble House that he owned quite a bit of land. Harry was still trying to get a handle on how the Magical world worked but making money off rents was the main way the rich got rich going back centuries. Given you couldn't magic up land, Harry was pretty sure he probably owned land and maybe took in rents from shops and the like.

To his surprise, he found that his parent's will (and House Potter) was in limbo due to a Ministerial order. The Gold-Master Zahav, the one in charge of his House's accounts had given him the contact information of one Ted Tonks. While Zahav had been managing his family's accounts, he hadn't been able to do much other than just jog in place, economically. Ted Tonks would help Harry through the process to change that given the law firm the Potter family had used for decades hadn't made it through the Dark Lord War.

Ted Tonks turned out to be a Muggleborn lawyer who in turn was married to a cousin of his infamous godfather that he barely knew anything about. The stories Aunt Petunia told of the prankster best friend of his father didn't marry up with the tales of him being a secret Death Eater no matter how dark the Black family historically was. Harry's tutor came in the form of their daughter, Nymphadora “Just call me Tonks or else!” Tonks.

Even though she was in her NEWT year, she cheerfully agreed to tutor him. She felt the level he would be working at wouldn't require much of her time. Dora (he'd beaten her down quickly to be allowed to use the nickname her father used) also said that tutoring him was good for her because a lot of basic things taught in Third Year were fundamental but easily overlooked after moving four years past them. NEWTs weren't just a test of post-OWL knowledge; it was everything on the subject. Harry thought that prudent. He knew a lot of people back at Stonewall who seemed to forget everything they learned the year before.

Of course another reason she was willing to take on the job was his trust fund allowed for tutor payments. Dora had winked, given him a nudge worthy of Eric Idle and said the money was gratefully appreciated.

Harry wished he'd known about the Tonks earlier. They were very nice people and even if Andromeda “Andrey” Tonks was a pure-blood, she knew her way around the Muggle world so was never exasperated as he and her husband discussed computers and the like. Dora was fun too even if she was a terrible flirt. The family also hadn't blinked when they found out about his red, light sensitive eyes. Of course having a metamorphmagus for a daughter probably helped in that regard.

Andromeda was a healer and reiterated what the glasses maker had said about eyes. She did agree, however, to his decision to keep them hidden for the most part. She had gone to school with Madam Hooch and they went out for drinks with a group of shared friends quite often. Hooch had admitted that her eyes were great on the pitch but caused a lot of people to stare or treat her slightly differently.

Beyond getting a brief insight into the magical world, Harry was most gratified that Andromeda had wanted to check on his health. While her spells showed he needed some boosters in medical vaccinations he had gotten as a child, nothing else was wrong with him. She said she had some odd readings from her diagnostic spells but explained that it was probably because Harry was the last of House Potter. She felt that the accumulated magicks of his family was probably throwing off her readings. That and the fact that he was the only one to ever survive the Killing Curse.

Harry still wasn't sure about that last bit. First off, if no one had survived the curse before than it stood to reason that whatever happened to Voldemort happened when he killed his mother. Aunt Petunia had told him that she'd been told that whatever Magicals did to confirm cause of death had shown Lily had indeed died from the Killing Curse. So Harry felt it was more likely that instead of surviving the “instant kill” spell that his scar was 'magical shrapnel' from whatever had fragged Voldemort.

Besides, why would Voldemort try and kill him? If he was so big on pure-blood ideology, it made more sense to leave him alive and arrange to have one of his cronies to raise him. Or given that magical vendetta with House Malfoy, give him to them. One cutting curse and the vendetta would be over and House Malfoy the winner.

Still, Harry had agreed with her diagnosis while internally blowing out a mental sigh of relief. So far, his mutation wasn't going to be outed by magic. Even if/when it did, the whole animagus bit or family history of curses between House Potter and Malfoy seemed enough to cover it.

Harry kept up with his reading, even after Roger and Sidhe got back from their prefect meeting and patrol. Harry was gratified that, as planned, the older students had their own things to talk about and didn't seem to need to draw him into the conversation. Harry felt he'd gotten lucky in ending up with a bunch of Ravenclaws. From what he'd learned, if there was a group of students in Hogwarts who wouldn't interrupt someone's reading, it'd be them!

Harry chatted with them briefly when the Food Trolley witch came calling. Harry had a few questions regarding some of the wares. While the others mostly got sweets rather than a decent lunch, Harry settled on the opposite with a beef sarnie and only a few magical treats to try. He was gratified that while he'd seemed to crave meat a bit more, his eating habits hadn't changed beyond eating more. Like the worry about growing extra body parts, Harry was glad he wasn't needing to liquefy his food.

In researching what had happened to him, Harry ended up seeing a few YouTube videos from the Jeff Goldblum film, _The Fly_. Harry was _**very**_ happy that while his wrists and forearms still itched and hurt at times, he seemed to have stopped mutating. Although his strength hadn't stop growing. Right now, not accidentally breaking or crushing things was his biggest worry. So far, he was happy he'd gotten every hand-shake correct. Harry simply put as little effort into it as possible and that seemed to work.

Harry was deep into reading up on Celtic Ogham in the Runes textbook when the cabin door opened. Harry looked up when he heard Roger practically sneer, “What do you want, Heir Malfoy?”

“I'm looking for Heir Potter, is he here?” the blond boy replied with a sneer of his own. Not only was his skin pale, but his blond hair was almost white. His clothes spoke of wealth and the two other students behind him almost looked like they were bodyguards to some crime boss on a BBC show.

Harry was partially blocked by Stretton who had been playing chess with Wildsmith so he kept quiet at first. “And what would Heir Potter want anything to do with you if he was? I mean your family and his have such a _**great**_ historical relationship.”

This comment surprised Harry. From what Andromeda had mentioned in passing, while House Potter and House Malfoy had had a magical vendetta since 1066, both parties tried to keep it on the down and low. Still, if Roger was a prefect of Ravenclaw, Harry figured it shouldn't be surprising he might know stuff which wasn't general knowledge. Harry was gratified Roger had stepped up given it allowed Harry to observe the boy. Dora had said Draco Malfoy was almost the stereotype of a dark, pure-blood heir. Arrogant, entitled, whiny when things didn't go his way and convinced of his superiority regardless of any facts to the contrary.

The blond boys eyes narrowed, “Bold words from a wizard of a _minor_ house.”

Roger just laughed, “Yeah and yet were Noble and still, after all this time, House Malfoy is still only that. And being bold by killing dark wizards is how my family got to be Noble in the first place. Funny, a few of your ancestors ended up helping us get that status by being dark and not being better with their wands than my ancestors. Guess gold can't buy everything, now can it?”

The Malfoy boy went red (which meant his face almost took on a normal pallor) but before he could go on a tirade, Harry stood up and faced him, “Thanks Roger, House Potter can speak for itself. However, Roger brings up a good point. Why would I want to speak to you, Heir Malfoy? Unless you want to enter into some form of détente while we're in school, I can't think of many reasons why I should care what you have to say.”

“I'm here to set up a meeting to talk important House business, Heir Potter. House Malfoy is one of the most powerful forces in Britain. You'd do well to listen to what I have to offer,” Draco said with a rather oily tone.

“Well good for you,” Harry said. He tapped his glasses, “I grew up surrounded by people wearing glasses. Imagine my surprise to find out that the reason I have to wear them has less to do with poor genes in the eye department but curses used by your ancestors on mine. So I don't care how powerful House Malfoy is. I am reminded of your family and what they've done every time I can't find my glasses when I wake up. But, like I said, if you're interested in a mutual “let's not fuck with each other so we can get our education knocked out” well, I'm all for it. Beyond that, I'm sure there are other rich and powerful houses that don't have a historical grudge with mine that I can cozy up to. And hey, before you go off angry, let me say this is nothing personal. You might be a brilliant chap and all, but right now, I'm inclined to not jump in with a House publicly known for being supporters of the dark wizard who made me an orphan.”

“My father was under the Imperious curse!” Draco hotly retorted.

“And you mum's older sister tells me that regardless of that claim, your dad pushes all sorts of things in the magical parliament that old Voldemort would be happy to see pass.”

The whole cabin flinched at the name which made Harry almost roll his eyes. The Dark Lord was dead these 12 years and they still flinched? From what he'd read, WW II's Grindelwald was much worse and nobody had any trouble saying his name. “So even if I did want to work with House Malfoy, I'm doubting your dad would want to help me with things I might want to get changed. So how about we agree to disagree and just ignore each other till graduation?”

Draco drew himself up and sniffed derisively. This would have been more impressive if he wasn't 14 years old and the two boys behind him weren't markedly taller than him. “You will regret this day that you spurned an offer from House Malfoy.”

“Yeah yeah, yeah; whatever. Why don't you just do the evil villain laugh, tell me my fate is sealed and that this isn't the last I'll hear from you and just bugger off. My Runes textbook is a lot more interesting than this conversation.” Harry pointedly turned his back to Draco, gave Hedwig a few scratches through the bars of her cage and sat down (careful not to disturb the sleeping Fizzgig) and went back to reading. Beyond his spider-sense and the fact that everyone else in the room were Fifth Years, Harry figured Draco and his goons wouldn't dare do anything. This was borne out by the cabin door being slammed shut.

Edward nudged his foot. Harry looked up to see him smiling, “Like I said. You're a quick study. I know pure-bloods who grew up with all that political wrangling who couldn't have shut him down as fast. I really hope we get you in Ravenclaw.”

Harry shrugged, “We'll see. The fact you folks say you have your own library seems the biggest draw to me so far. As for Heir Malfoy, I think two things are at play. First is the simple fact my house is Ancient and Most Noble. I wouldn't blow him off if he was a Black or something. He and his cronies can huff and puff and mutter how rude I was, but from what I've read, it was presumptuous for him to show up and just assume I needed his House's help.”

Sidhe looked up from the chessboard, “What's the second thing?” she asked.

Harry smiled sheepishly, “What sort of fourteen-year-old walks around with goons like that? I mean what a wanker! Was I supposed to be impressed? 'Oh look at me! I'm important enough to need guards!' and all that. Plus from what I've been told by his mum's older sister, given his dad supposedly couldn't shake off the Imperius Curse for years, well I guess maybe he needs minders so he doesn't get taken over like his dad.”

All of the Ravenclaws (all half-bloods or higher) stared at him. Jeremy and Sidhe's jaws actually dropped. Roger finally said, “Whoa! Hey...you might want to tone comments like that down unless you want to end up in Gryffindor. Not to mention the Grey and Dark Houses won't appreciate it. You're new so I'm thinking you might not want to start off too radically.”

Harry shrugged, “My parents’ house. Still, I'm betting the 'brave and the bold' are probably a bunch of loud, thrill-seekers. Not my idea of a good place to quietly study.”

This elicited various chuckles and snorts, “Brave but dumb; that's Gryffindor all right,” Jeremy said before returning to his chess match with Sidhe.

The next hour or so went quietly. A few times some people would come to the door to ask questions. It was obvious to Harry that someone was telling the younger students to go see Roger or Sidhe to get their problems or questions sorted out. As the new prefects, Harry figured the older ones were happily dumping this chore on them.

So Harry didn't even look up when the door opened until a voice asked, “Excuse me, has anyone seen a lost toad?” When he did so, he locked eyes with someone he actually recognized.

“Hey! Hermione, right?” Harry said as he jumped to his feet. “Wow! I can't believe you're here! How odd we'd bump into each other and not realize we were both magical!”

The bushy-haired girl blinked at him before gasping, “My god! You are _that_ Harry Potter! I didn't even think on that when reading up on Magical history! My goodness! It's good to know that I'll at least know someone at Hogwarts!”

Sidhe spoke up, “Is there a problem we can help you with? Something about a toad?”

Hermione blushed a bit and motioned for the wizard behind her to step forward, “Yes, this is Neville and his toad seems to have done a runner. We've been trying to find it.”

Harry perked up, “Neville? As in Heir Longbottom?”

The rather pudgy boy looked startled at this, “Yes; that's me.”

Harry bowed. This time it was deeper given not only was House Longbottom much higher in status than House Malfoy, but from what Andromeda had time to tell him about 'the Game of Houses' that the Potters and Longbottoms had been allies going back to about when the Potters ended up fighting with the Malfoys. “It is an honor to meet you. I'm sorry I haven't been able to do so earlier but I've been living with my Muggle relatives since 1997.”

Neville bowed back, “That's...that's okay. I understand about the need for heir...safety.”

“So does this toad have any specific powers or just your normal magical toad, Heir Longbottom?” Roger asked. “Is he a familiar or just a pet.”

Neville shook his head, “No and no; he's a pet.”

Roger looked at Edward, “Can you do the honors? You're better at Charms than me and Sidhe.”

Hermione looked excited as Edward got up and took out his wand, “Oh! Are you going to do magic! This is exciting! What are you going to cast?”

Edward looked a bit bemused at the questions rattled off with barely a pause, He looked at Harry, “Your friend seems another probable Ravenclaw!” He turned back to Hermione, “Well my curious friend, the problem we face is two-fold. First, we can't just summon it because we don't know where Heir Longbottom's toad might be. Too often you get brash Gryffindor types jumping right to that option and either injure what they summon or they get inundated with everything their spell applies to. So what do you think I should do first?”

Hermione worried her lip a bit, “You need a way to locate Neville's toad specifically. Who knows how many toads might be on this train?”

“Exactly!” Edward turned to Harry, “Any guesses?”

Harry gestured towards Hermione, “She's right. I don't know if it applies to real magic, but in non-magical stories and legends, there is a lot of what's called sympathetic magic. Like calls to like. In this case, I figure that maybe Neville and his toad share a connection if only due to long proximity. So use that to call the toad to him or maybe lead him to the toad?”

The Ravenclaws all looked impressed. Edward nodded, “Almost spot on! And yes, 'real magic' does use sympathetic aspects. You'll see a lot of that in transfiguration where it's easier to transform one thing into another when they share traits. As you said, Neville has a link to his pet. It would be easier if it was a familiar...but then again, if it was, Neville would have a general sense of where it was.”

Edward moved over and tapped his wand tip on Neville's chest three times before casting, “ _Ego Mea_.” For a brief moment, Neville seemed to have a brownish green aura around him. Edward then did an intricate wand movement, “ _Invenio Rubeta!_ ”

Neville almost immediately perked up, “Merlin! I can feel him!”

Edward gestured towards the door, “You better hurry; spells like that don't last that long.”

Neville nodded, “Thanks!” He then hustled out and down the corridor.

“Angling to be a Professor there, Edward?” Jeremy quipped. “Don't think you have what it takes to go pro?”

Edward sniffed in an exaggerated posh manner, “I am keeping my options open for when the blush of sporting competition wanes. Besides, there are always some family who’s willing to cough up some sickles when ickle Junior is in danger of failing.”

The Ravenclaws all laughed. Harry did as well given he knew Edwards was a Quidditch player. “Hey, do you mind if Hermione stays a bit? I mean, if that's okay with you, Hermione.”

Roger shook his head, “Sidhe and I need to do another quick round. I'll throw up a silence spell so you two can talk. I know Jeremy here is about 20 minutes from a nap; the lazy sluggard.”

Jeremy snorted, “I'm storing energy to get through till the Feast tonight. When you're all whining and moaning about when will the Feast _finally_ start, I will have my revenge!”

Edward nudged Harry and whispered, “He could fall asleep half-way through a game if you're not careful.”

“I heard that!” Jeremy deadpanned.

Everyone got settled and spells were cast. Hermione looked a bit lost but happy. “Thank you for this. I've been so out-of-sorts since I got told I'm a witch. All my plans just went up in smoke.”

Harry smiled, “A terrible thing for a Virgo!” He remembered that Hermione had told Mary-Jane her birthday was in early September. “So, how was the orientation? I didn't go given I'm a celebrity even if nobody ever bothered to tell me that.”

Hermione frowned at that before smiling, “Okay well that makes a bit more sense. I was wondering earlier how you could be Harry Potter in all the magical stories and yet you told me you went to a...Stonewall High, right?”

Harry nodded, “Yeah. I think about 95% of everything written about me is not only wrong but on a different planet of wrong. Luckily for me, I lucked into finding some magical relatives so I've been able to get up to speed a bit. That and now that my Hogwarts letter came, my Aunt was able to tell me more.”

“Wait, you knew you were magical before?” Hermione asked.

Harry nodded again, “Yup. I knew the basics but what was the point beyond that? I wasn't going to go to Hogwarts till now. Still, I do wish I had a little more contact with certain people. Or about how important my family was. My uncle was a bit...opinionated about things and even after he died, my Aunt just didn't want to interact with anything magical.”

**OoOoO**

Harry thanked Roger and the other Ravenclaws for an enjoyable ride before the older students went over to the carriages to take them up to the castle. He was happy that Tonks had pointed out the thestrals prior to heading off with her Seventh-Year friends or he probably would be freaking out at seeing those winged, zombie-like horses. Harry wondered if he’d have been able to see the Thestrals if he hadn’t killed that witch in Knockturn Alley. He did see his mother killed even if he was only 15 months old at the time.

Tonks had stuck her head into his cabin earlier when she had been out on prefect patrol but had stuck with her friends, she hadn't seen all summer. This hadn't bothered him. Ted Tonks had said it was sort of the point of the Hogwarts ride to make new friends. Never mind that most of the pure-bloods already knew each other and most people would sit with their new friends on their first train ride home. Either way, he'd have plenty of time to catch up with Tonks during tutoring sessions.

It had been a little weird changing into his Hogwarts clothes. The academic robe, while a bit archaic, was at least something one could still seen worn into the modern era. The rest of his clothes? Not so much. Harry had done some digging on the internet about the clothes. To him, it looked like it was a European adaptation of the old Zoroastrian Magi style of clothing. Something a person saw when looking at the Wise Men in nativity scenes. Harry felt that the trousers and kaftan like tunic fit better with the colder climate than the more traditional magi robes found in the Middle East. Even so, with the floppy hat, a belted tunic over baggy trousers and boots, Harry felt he’d fit right in at a Renn Faire.

While Harry adjusted his outer academic robe a bit, he noticed that Hermione was talking with Lisa Turpin, She was another Muggleborn Hermione had met during the orientation and bonded over their shared love of books. Harry looked around at the other various First-Years who were slowly moving toward a giant of a man with an atrocious West County accent calling them toward the boats that Sidhe had told him would take them up to the castle.

Neville was by his side, a firm grip on his toad, Trevor. Harry had bumped into him again on a trip to the loo and asked if they could get to know each other better. Andromeda had told him when talking about Sirius Black that Neville's mum was his godmother. That and Harry's father had been Neville's godfather. The pair almost shared a birthday given Neville was born at 11:30pm on July 30th while he himself had been born only four hours into July 31st. Harry figured regardless of which houses they would be sorted into; Neville was someone to get to know.

After the two hours talking with Hermione, Harry was happy that he at least had someone else he could look to as a possible friend here at Hogwarts. Harry knew he was going to miss Mary-Jane. His friendship with Peter had always been through email and Skype so with his laptop, that relationship wouldn't change. Mary-Jane had been his constant companion since he was eleven. Of course, when he did talk to her next, he'd have to tell her that one of the first people he met was a boy who grew up without his parents.

While not quite the orphan he, Peter and Mary-Jane were, Harry figured Neville's Gran was close enough to being an aunt to count for their unofficial “shut-in club”. Not that that Mary-Jane was that shut in. For her, it was mostly because it took her a while to make the adjustment from the suburbs of New York City to those of London.

The two teen wizards followed Hermione and Lisa and they all ended up in a boat together. Lisa turned out to be from Carlisle, Hermione was from Winchester and Neville lived up around York not too far from where the Potters traditionally lived. They didn't have much time to chat as it was hard not to take in the breath-taking scenery of the Black Lake and that of Hogwarts, lit-up against the northern skies.

They did, at least, have quick discussion on which House they wanted or expected to go into. Harry had been a bit irritated when Neville had sighed and said he was probably going to 'be stuck' in Hufflepuff. Mindful of certain things Dora had said about the perception of the Badgers being “a house of duffers” Harry had stiffly pointed out that bravery and cunning were good but you couldn't put a price on loyalty. It was former Hufflepuffs who kept the magical world working from what Dora had told him. He passed this piece of info onto Neville.

Hermione wanted to go into Gryffindor because it was where Dumbledore had gone. Lisa was like him and thought Ravenclaw seemed more likely. Although Hermione had perked up when Harry told her about the fact that Ravenclaw had their own internal library and about the Oracle Board. Neville had been surprised to find Harry wasn't against going into Slytherin even as he figured it might be a problem if he was sorted there. Andromeda had been a Slytherin as had Harry's grandmother Dorea. Harry just felt that since so many families associated with Voldemort traditionally sorted into Slytherin meant he'd get a chilly reception there. If most of them were anything like Draco Malfoy, he'd pass!

After finally unloading from the boats and some ghost shenanigans, (and a loud altercation between one of those ginger Weasleys and Malfoy which had only been stopped by the arrival of one Professor McGonagall) they were led into the Great Hall to be sorted....by a talking hat.

And a singing hat at that.

As the First-Years began to be sorted in alphabetical order, Harry thought about the Houses and where he might go. Gryffindor was problematic. Both his parents had gone to that house as did many Potters down the years. But from what Andromeda had told him, many Potters had always stepped up to fight the Dark. Harry figured his ancestors and Edwards ancestors probably fought side-side. But what did being brave and bold really mean?

Because the more Harry thought about it, he wasn't brave or bold. He wasn't one to just throw himself into the deep-end of anything. Even his foray into Knockturn Alley and fighting the Death Eater had been calculated because he felt his new spider-powers would give him enough of an edge. There was a difference between trusting you'd get through it and properly assessing the risks before acting.

And it was that dichotomy which made Harry feel that Slytherin was problematic as well. What exactly was considered cunning? Was that just a euphemism for playing the odds? And ambition? Certainly Harry had ambitions but being ambitious seemed to imply that you were willing to go further than others to ensure you got what you wanted. This sadly seemed to fit in with a lot of what he'd heard about Slytherins. Even Andromeda had openly admitted that a key Slytherin trait was always to work to game the system. If anything, Harry felt Slytherins sounded like the type of people who'd run casinos because the house always won in the end. That didn't make them evil, but Harry felt there was a sort of built in dishonesty to that sort of attitude.

Harry's thoughts were interrupted when Hermione had the Sorting Hat placed on her head. Unlike so many, the Hat didn't immediately cry out its choice. Instead, it sat there on Hermione's head; its 'face' seemed to be in deep thought and it swayed slightly. Hermione herself had her eyes closed and her face was set deep in concentration.

This went on and after a few minutes, Harry could hear various older students muttering about a “hat stall” which Harry took to mean the choice wasn't cut and dried.

Finally the Hat roared out, “Ravenclaw!”

Harry clapped along with everyone else. He wondered if the Hat had wanted to place Hermione in Slytherin and the Muggleborn witch had fought against this. In the short time he had been around Hermione, today and back in London, it was obvious to him that Hermione had ambitions and a chip on her shoulder. She seemed to be the perfect candidate for either being an annoying busy-body or one of those people who ended up affecting real change.

Once again, he had to wonder about the difference between Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Was he being a Snake or a Raven by assessing the risks of going into Knockturn Alley or deciding to fight a Death Eater instead of not risking a fight with a wand user? Harry enjoyed learning and he admitted that his shut-in life seemed to strongly imply Ravenclaw, but a lot of that had been to stay close to his Aunt. Wasn't that a perfect example of being a Hufflepuff? Putting someone else's concerns and well-being over one's own?

Harry was surprised to see that there was a slight hat stall when Neville Longbottom was sorted but gratified to see the Hat sent him to Hufflepuff. Like him, Neville's father had come from a long line of Gryffindors and his Muggleborn mum had been one as well. Going back to his questions regarding legacy sorting, Harry was glad to see Neville become a Badger. The quiet boy didn't seem like he'd do well among the brash Lions. Dora had told him stories which made Harry wonder if Gryffindor was considered the party house by students. It certainly seemed like one of those college frats one saw in movies.

As his own sorting got closer, Harry thought about what he wanted to do in life. Okay, he was studious and like to learn but did that define him? Harry would like to think he was loyal, but for the most part he was mostly a loner. Yet he did have his ambitions and he wasn't afraid to want to make some changes. He'd already seen a lot of areas in the magical world that really needed work. Taking on tradition and bias was going to require bold action...and cunning and ambition as well.

On the other hand, Harry also knew he didn't want to have magic define him. He'd already seen a bit of the bias the Magical world had in that everything seemed to rely on magic. Even when doing things more 'normally' might be easier. Harry had seen a man at the Leaky Cauldron fuss around to find his wand so he could use a spell to retie his shoe. He could have done it by hand in a fraction of that time. Harry knew he'd never really fit in with people like that. Of course with his mutations, the magical world might be the only place he could stay and not be considered a freak. What did that say about him relative to the Hogwarts' houses?

After the surprise of seeing identical twins sorted into different houses, it was finally Harry's turn. He tried not to roll his eyes at some of the comments he heard as he walked up to where Professor McGonagall waited with the Sorting Hat. Given his celebrity status and known date of birth, Harry figured if the magical world had anything like tabloids, that him coming to Hogwarts this year would have been covered and speculated on ad nauseum for quite a while. So why were so many acting like it was a surprise that he was here?

A moment after the hat was placed on his head, a voice spoke in his mind, “Well! What a delight! I do love a challenge and yet you've already done much of my work for me. Even more of a delight!”

“How so?” Harry thought back...or at least that's what he tried to. do

It apparently worked as the Sorting Hat let out a vocal cackle even as it continued on in his head, “You've spent the time to ask questions about what do the house traits mean. Then you've done what fewer students do; honestly look at themselves and ask who they are and where they might end up. That you didn't try to force yourself into getting answers to these questions is telling.”

Harry frowned at the words and that he'd already heard people beginning to mutter about another hat stall. “What do you mean?”

“When you are a child, you live in a black and white world. The stories your parents teach you are simple and easy to understand. Good always triumphs over Evil and no one tries to burden a child with how the world is less black and white but various shades of grey. It does you credit that you realize how you don't know enough to make definitive decisions! I see far too many students arrive who would try to lock themselves onto a path before even knowing which road goes where. The measure of leaving childhood behind to embrace becoming and adult is letting go of this simplistic world view.”

“So you're saying it's good that I know that I don't know? How Socratic,” Harry quipped.

The Sorting Hat cackled out loud again. This time it was longer and louder, “Oh such a find! Yes, acknowledging what you do not know is always a good start to wisdom. Sadly this simplistic, child-like world view applies here at Hogwarts. Most witches and wizards arrive never thinking about what it means to be brave or loyal or what exactly does wit imply and how does it differ from cunning? I was created to Sort by the Founders because in the early days, the students were mostly rough illiterate peasants or pampered elites. What did they know of life? How could they know what path would be best for them? I would look into their hearts and find not only what was there in abundance, but what was there that needed to be cherished and nurtured so that it can grow.”

“But how has that changed? For all the changes in Muggle technology or magic, we're still teenagers. That's never going to change!” Harry thought back.

The Hat chuckled again, “Well reasoned. However, we've had over a thousand years for the houses to become mired in tradition and stereotypes. To have one's house be a flag towards which side of politics you will side. Who you can associate with, even who you can marry. Because of this, the majority of the students who walk into this hall have already sorted themselves. Even when they have other traits which would be better to nurture, their hearts are already set. My magic only allows me to do so much. In most cases, it is only the Muggleborn that I can talk them out of a mistake. Your friend Ms. Granger wanted to be a Gryffindor for all the wrong reasons. Yet there are other paths for her to express that Lion within her that do not require her to wear the crimson and gold of Gryffindor.”

“Huh...I figured you were trying to talk her into Slytherin. She seems to have the ambition for it,” Harry mused.

“In the past I would have. Sadly today she would not be allowed to flourish in the House of Salazar even though he would himself would have been delighted to have a witch like her wear the silver and green of Slytherin. But _you_ , now you put some thought into it; questioned the paradigm and didn't expect something magical to tell you your Fate. Because of that, regardless that you would do well in _**all**_ of the houses, even Slytherin, there is only one place for you... _ **RAVENCLAW**_!” the Hat shouted the last bit out loud.

Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat off his head. Harry felt her dour face looked a bit disappointed or was it surprised? It was hard to tell. As he walked towards the Ravenclaw table, the Hall was in a muted uproar. The Hat's words, fresh in his mind, were confirmed as already he could hear people discussing how he being a Raven would affect things. Harry could already see preconceived notions being applied to him; the previous version of Harry being overlaid with a generic Ravenclaw filter.

Of course there were the ginger-haired pair of identical twins at the Gryffindor table singing a dirge about not getting him for Gryffindor. Harry's celebrity status was obviously something that was coveted to be associated with. Or maybe it was as the Sorting Hat said; his parents had been Gryffindor and so everyone expected he would be as well.

As he sat down in the empty spot next to s beaming Hermione, he noticed that his previously plain robes now had magically blue and silver piping. The embroidery around his neck and chest had also changed in color but also had interlocking ravens. For better or worse, Harry was a Raven now.

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES**

**Hogwarts Houses** : What does JKR tell us about Ravenclaw except they are bookworms who bully people who stick out? Supposedly Ravenclaws are about creativity but did we see any of that in canon? Also, JKR holds Gryffindor up to be the best house, the one she feels it would be an honor to be “worthy” to be sorted into. But bravery and boldness? Without cunning, you're just canon-fodder. Without intelligence and planning, you die bravely but stupidly. Without loyalty and patience, you run off to get killed (albeit gloriously) but leave your buddies in the lurch. Frankly, I feel Gryffindor is the worst house to get sorted into. I know I'm biased, but canon does seem to imply a bit of “Watch this; hold my beer!” sort of thing going on.

**Hermione the Ravenclaw** : Certainly Hermione could be seen as the typical Ravenclaw, but one who the Sorting Hat saw had reserves of bravery that needed to be cultivated. But I think canon Hermione shows more loyalty and cunning than anything else. Certainly she has the brash thing going on; SPEW is a good example of that. But the very Gryffindor aspects she displays are often _negative_ traits. Also, all of Hermione's rule-breaking and the like all relate to Harry. Again, I'd argue she was being more of a Hufflepuff by sticking with her friends to the end even if that meant having to break the rules.

**Manipulative Dumbledore** : I think the reason this trope gets so much traction is because so many things taken together in hindsight show how many things which happened as they did happen simply because of a certain chain of events. Take Harry being sorted into Gryffindor. I've always felt that Harry was more loyal than brave. It doesn't just take bravery to go to your sacrificial death, but rather a loyalty to others that means you doing the Right Thing™ no matter what.

Prior to his sorting, Harry is surrounded by 'unreliable narrators' in the form of Hagrid and then Ron. Of all the Slytherin's Harry could bump into, he got Draco (twice!) - In canon we know that Ron is sort of a Gryffindor Draco. He hates the “slimy Snakes” before ever even meeting any. Certainly he may have picked this up from his brothers but he certainly passed it on to Harry. Hagrid? He paints an entire House dark over the actions of a few. Given how fast Gryffindor turns on Harry in canon, obviously being dicks isn't a Slytherin-only trait.

My point here is the suspicious actions of having Hagrid show Harry around (rescue him certainly) but why not dump him with whoever is helping all the other Muggleborn and raise do their shopping? If not to ensure Harry not only sees the Philosopher Stone be transferred but that Harry is going to get Hagrid's very black and white worldview. Then there is the very picked on point of the Weasleys “finding” Harry at just the right time and place when they simply shouldn't be there. (And after Bill, Charlie, Percy, and the Twins to say nothing of her own 7 years, Molly should have no trouble finding the platform...unless she never used it and floo'ed there every time like you'd expect a magical family to do, especially to help preserve the Statute of Secrecy!)

(The whole getting to platform 9¾ raises its own concerns. Given it's out in plain sight, it must be under a notice-me-not spell. If it is, then Molly should have no trouble finding it given it'd be the one spot where there wasn't anyone there. If it wasn't, anyone could see them. I know if I was walking by, I'd watch them simply because how often do you see people with an owl in a cage?)

Plus while obviously certain things have to happen to move the plot forward, it's a little cheesy that out of all the students, Harry ends up alone in a cabin in a train that is supposedly all full before Ron shows up. What are the odds of that? And again the major interaction is again between Ron (Good Gryffindor) and Draco (Evil Slytherin) Also, why was Draco the ONLY person that would seek out the Boy-Who-Lived? They'd all grown up hearing the stories and only Draco actively goes looking? Just to take ONE example, you'd expect Lavender to try and find him just to have something to gossip over.

Thus it's hard not to look back and realize that so many of the contrived things that brought Harry into Gryffindor look like they were manufactured. I think too many people see this line of thought as Dumbledore-bashing and not just being the Occam's Razor reasoning of what we see in canon. I mean Dumbledore was able to ensure, _after his death_ , that Ron would get the one item he needed to get back to Harry and Hermione...which implies Dumbledore figured Ron would bail at some point. He also knew, almost down to the minute, when Harry would need to activate the Resurrection Stone so that Harry could get cheered onto his suicide by Dark Lord. When you realize this, then all of canon is suspect.

I personally go with the _Manipulative!Dumbledore_ trope. The difference is except for _Rejected Path_ , I usually seeing Dumbledore as either doing bad things for good reasons or (usually) him doing things because he's gotten so used to everyone thinking he's The Man™ that he's begun to believe it himself. In canon, his early years do point to an arrogance that supports this. Plus, by JKR's own canon, she implies people don't change; they only become more of who they really are (which is at odds with the whole redemption thing Dumbledore harps on) which would mean Dumbledore is still arrogant and sees himself as better than others. So it would make sense that he'd do things unilaterally and not think too much about it. That doesn't make him evil nor is showing him being that way makes it bashing.

**Spells**

Ego Mea – “I am” – Basically a spell that activates the targets aura for a follow-on spell. IN this case, when Edward does the ‘find toad’ spell, he’s only going to find a toad(s) that have a link to Neville’s aura.

Invenio Rubeta – Find Toad – Instead of summoning (for reasons shown) creating a link might be better.


	4. A Sore Thumb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Given Harry has his spider-sense, the story is going to kick into high gear with big time jumps in the next few chapters. There are just too many canon plot-points that simply cannot work with Harry having his spider-sense warning him of danger. Thus most of JKR's plot-points in every book are going to be messed up. That and this Harry isn't a clueless twit who never asks the questions you'd expect an orphaned kid to ask

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _You cannot blend in when you were born to stand out._ ” **Raquel J. Palacio** –American author and graphic designer – 1963 –

**LAST UPDATED ON** : 05-03-2020

**RAVENCLAW TOWER, HOGWARTS, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 1** **st** **, 2010 – MORNING**

The First-Years waited in the corridor in a huddle until Roger beckoned them forward. Soon they were in front of an ornate door with a raven doorknocker made of some black metal gilded in silver. Sidhe stood by the knocker while Roger turned to them.

“Okay Firsties, I'm sure you've all been properly amazed by Hogwarts. I'm sure even you pure-bloods are impressed. Sorry to say but I'm here to start bursting that bubble because life here can be a pain in the arse. For you Firsties, that's almost a literal statement,” Roger said with a grin.

Except for a few muted sounds of surprise, no one spoke.

Roger nodded, “So let's break this down. Tomorrow you're going to learn about the 'joy' of moving staircases and dodging our poltergeist.”

“Don't forget the trick steps and ghosts who often give directions and information decades out of date,” Sidhe said with a grin.

“Oh yes, we can't forget them!” Roger deadpanned. “Graduates all seem to wax lyrical about their times here, but either they are engaging in some targeted forgetfulness or they didn't want to give away how much life here can really be a bother.”

Roger made a gesture at the door, “Not very unobtrusive, right? The various Houses are supposed to be hidden from each other. Supposedly, back in the Founders times, the various Houses had secret magic only taught to those of that House. If that was true, we've never found a record of it and you can bet Ravenclaws over the centuries have tried. The whole secrecy thing is insane. It takes about a day for a Firstie to figure out which towers have to be either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw and most get which one is which as well. Slytherin? Besides the wear pattern on the corridor floor, unlike Gryffindor, they don't have a portrait guarding their door. Because it's just a blank spot on the wall...in a corridor where most of the walls are taken up by portraits of famous Slytherins.

Sidhe snorted, “Might as well have a giant sign pointing to it saying, 'Secret Door Here!' and this is the protection from the supposedly cunning house!”

“Anyway, Hufflepuff is the hardest to find but, again, if you try you can find it in a few days. So what's the point? Well not only are the Houses supposed to be secret, they all have ways to keep people out...and that includes their own people! Gryffindor and Slytherin have passwords. Hufflepuff has the best and worst security. Their door simply asks why you should be let in. You could march down there right now and probably get in simply saying you're curious. On the other hand, their door sometimes seems to channel the Sorting Hat. It might think you need to go back and revise in the library for your potions quiz or go outside given it's a nice day. It's like having a nagging mum from what my Badger friends say.”

There was more muttering but quite a few chuckled at the mental image, Harry among them.

“Oh you think it's funny?” Sidhe asked. “Just wait! It gets 'better' for you. You see Rowena Ravenclaw was either trying to sharpen her students minds or was sadistic...or just hated them. Or maybe all three; the opinions vary on that. Because to get into your new home for the next seven years, you have to answer a riddle _every time you need to enter_.

Silence descended on the group as the implications sank it on what that might be like.

Roger nodded, “Hogwarts reputation just slipped didn't it? Yes, it's going to suck but know that we Ravenclaws are not considered the smart House for nothing. Yes, you're going to get locked out...a lot. But during the orientation you're about to get, we'll be telling you all the different ways we as Ravens work to mitigate this self-inflected disaster. Even so, this whole riddle thing is going to get old for you _very quickly_.”

Roger turned to his counter-part, “Sidhe; will you do the honors?”

She nodded and tapped the knocker three times.

The raven knocker's eyes opened up. In a voice that reminded many of the Muggleborn and raised of the voice of the Bridge-keeper in Monty Python's _Holy Grail_ film, it asked, “ _When you take five and add six, you get eleven. When I take six and add seven, I get one. What am I?_ ”

Both Roger and Sidhe smiled at the faces many of the various First-Years were making. However a petite blonde with a flower woven into her hair stepped forward, “You are a clock!”

The knocker clicked it's beak twice, “Well reasoned; you may enter.” The door swung open on its own.

Roger motioned for them urgently, “Hustle in folks! Take too long and the door will literally shut in your face!”

There was a hurried jostle as they quickly poured into their new home away from home.

**OoOoO**

Harry was taking notes as Professor Flitwick was winding down his opening speech and orientation. It was clear why he was the head of House for the smart kids. He was clear and concise and while it wasn't a PowerPoint slideshow, the blackboard's notes which changed with a wave of his wand was the next best thing.

Harry was glad that his new spider powers had super-charged his body. When Roger had joked about Ravenclaw being a literal pain in the ass, he'd obviously been referring to the fact that the farther along in your school you were, the lower in the tower your rooms were. As First-Years, they'd be getting plenty of cardio trekking up to the higher levels of the Tower. Apparently while the Ministry had magical equivalents of elevators, none existed here at Hogwarts.

Harry looked at the others in his year. For the most part they easily fit in with the bookworm trope who shunned sports. They'd all have calves of steel after nine months of Hogwarts, that was for sure! While Harry hadn't paid that much attention, given his musings at the time, he'd learned during the Feast that not only was this the smallest year outside the old days of plagues, Ravenclaw had taken in the bulk of the students for the first time in decades.

Out of the 43 First-Years, Ravenclaw had taken 14, seven wizards and witches a piece. Slytherin and Hufflepuff both had 11 sorted into their respected houses. This left Gryffindor with only 7 Lions. Harry, on reflection, wasn't surprised by this given how so many of the Light families were the ones to die in the Voldemort War. It didn't help that both he and Neville came from families who sorted more often than not into Gryffindor and neither had become Lions. He figured it might explain why McGonagall had made the face she had when he'd been sorted.

Professor Flitwick paused for a minute in his lecture before looking at the group, “Before we get into where your rooms will be, this year presents an interesting situation which calls for interesting solutions. Heir Potter, Heir MacDougal and Heir Lovegood, could you come here please?”

Harry blinked in surprise at this but got up and came forward along with the petite blonde who had answered the door riddle and the twin who had been sorted into Ravenclaw. The other witch was pale like the blonde but she had a brilliant head of ginger hair which cascaded down her back.

Professor Flitwick continued after a moment, “Those of you who are Muggleborn or raised may not have known this was coming, but this year at Hogwarts we have 10 heirs all at once. Now normally Heir Lovegood wouldn't start at Hogwarts till next year. However, due her turning 14 on the 10th and her stellar academic prowess, it was felt best to bring her forward with the other heirs.”

“Normally Heirs do not rate much more in the way of privileges from any other students. However, these ten heirs all share a sad condition: they all either only have one living relative currently head of their house or they are orphans with a regent. As one can imagine, the safety of these Heirs is seen as very important to our world. To that end, they will be given special accommodations and some other privileges befitting their station.”

Harry saw this news wash over his year mates. Some looked a bit disgruntled by it. Harry could understand why, but even in the Muggle world some heir to a fortune would likewise be singled out. It was just the way the world was.

Professor Flitwick obviously saw the same thing, “Now I will remind you, Heir or otherwise, you are here to learn. It is just some students by law and custom are required this extra level of security. I do not want to hear of abuse of it by you three Heirs nor do I want to hear any of the students causing issues because of this situation. Do I make myself clear?”

There was a quick, “Yes professor!” While Flitwick was short due to his goblin lineage, that same lineage came through in making none of the young wizards or witches consider crossing him. That he was a long-time dueling champion prior to taking up teaching certainly helped make people take him seriously regardless of his normal jovial demeanor.

Professor Flitwick nodded at this before his stern look went back into his more cheerful one. “Prefects Davies and Wildstorm will give you more info later but suffice to say that Heirs rate special privileges and there are various social customs which relate to them. This also applies to many students here at Hogwarts from the Greater Houses which many of you will be unfamiliar with. I'm sorry to say some of you will find yourself the target of bigotry due to your bloodlines. Take heart and work with your prefects and know I am behind you to help work against this as much as I can.”

Harry couldn't help but frown at that. To him, it sounded like Flitwick was admitting while he'd try to have their backs, the system was rigged against it. Again, not surprising from what he'd picked up from Dora and her parents. Still it was depressing to see it in action.

“Luckily with the Head Boy being Valentin Desmaris of Slytherin and Head Girl Scarlett Sharp from Gryffindor, this leaves the chambers set aside for those positions if held by Ravens empty. Heir MacDougal and Lovegood, your room has already been altered to house both of you privately. That can be changed at your discretion. Heir Potter, you will take the Head Boy suite.”

Harry caught Hermione beaming at him. He could already tell what she was thinking. With his suite being on the bottom floor, presumably with its own loo, she'd have a much nicer place to study. One much closer to the Ravenclaw library to boot.

Harry had a feeling he'd be getting a lot of 'friends' wanting to hang with him for the same reason.

**XxXxX**

**RAVENCLAW TOWER, HOGWARTS, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 2** **nd** **, 2010 – MORNING**

Harry sat in one of the plush chairs in the common room with the specialized laptop on his lap powering up. He would have preferred to do this in his room, but for the first day, First-Years were to be escorted till they had a better feel of the castle. Harry knew he had a bad habit of getting caught up online so he figured it was better to do it where he wouldn't miss breakfast.

Of course so far, he had the common room to himself. Most of the house had partaken in the Welcome Party far into the night. While they had orientations and the like over the next few days, classes didn't start till Monday the 6th so most had decided to party and reconnect with their classmates and just have a lie in afterwards. Harry had met a lot of interesting people that night. Luckily for him, ever since he got his spider-powers, he slept only about 4 hours a night.

Even so, he had missed that he'd gotten a text from Dr. Richards during the night asking him to video-chat him as soon as possible regardless of the time. Hoping Dr. Richards didn't mind being up past midnight, Harry set about setting up his laptop. He'd been told to wait to do so at Hogwarts so he hadn't played with it like he normally would. Now Harry was kicking himself because he'd managed to totally forget to ask the obvious question which he should have thought about immediately when he first got both devices. In a castle without electrical outlets, how was he going to charge them?

Some Ravenclaw he was turning out to be!

Harry finally got everything set up and marveled what a nice piece of tech it was. He would be lucky if he'd ever get access to such back in his old life. Peter was so lucky! Like his phone, the laptop apps seemed to connect immediately. It certainly lived up to the prototype name of Zephyr. Harry barely had to wait more than a minute before Dr. Richards picked up. If he was tired due to the time difference, he certainly didn't show it.

“Good to talk to you again, Harry. Especially to have a face to go with the voice,” Dr. Richards said, “Any problems with the Zephyr?”

Harry shook his head, “No sir. I have to say I've been kicking myself for totally spacing for forgetting to ask how am I going to charge my phone and laptop here?”

Richards laughed, “Just call me Reed. Well the recharge issue is why I didn't want you on the laptop till now. The phone can charge like a regular phone but the laptop presented some issues. Now, do you see the sealed, red Ziplock bag in the laptop case?”

Harry followed the instructions Reed gave him as he walked him through how to recharge both the laptop and phone. The primary method was the experimental part that Reed was so interested it. It was simply a tap into the castle wards. The charging station had a panel on a wire which Harry just had to stick to any wall. If it worked, the phone would charge in about an hour and the laptop in four. If that didn't work, Reed had a back-up device that he had to put somewhere high and protected from the winter's snow. It would collect ambient cosmic radiation which naturally fell to Earth (even if most of it was reflected away by the atmosphere) This radiation was beamed to the charging station in similar way as how his phone and laptop could connect to the web.

While Harry was curious about this, Reed had simply stated Harry would probably need at least one of the Doctorates he had to follow along. While they chatted, Harry found out why Reed hadn't worried about when Harry would call him. Apparently, the change which made him able to stretch also made it that he rarely slept. Richards had found a 90 to 110-minute nap or two in a day was enough for him. His girlfriend and brilliant co-worker, Susan Storm, had theorized that while Reed's body might not need it, his brain still needed to go through REM sleep to keep his brain working properly with memory storage and the like. Harry was tempted to tell him about his own experience, but he wasn't ready to let the spider out of the bag just yet.

During this conversation, a few Ravenclaws groggily began to appear. The looks they were giving him made Harry think they were all students raised in an all magical environment. He figured he'd spot the first Muggleborn by the fact they'd probably run up and be like, “Dude! Where did you get that?!?” Like at the bank, Harry figured they thought he might be a bit touched in the head given that since he was wearing a headset, all they could hear was him talking to himself. Harry snorted in amusement as this reminded him of a joke Mary-Jane had told him one day on the Tube. She'd gestured to a guy seemingly talking to himself. She had joked, “Crazy or Bluetooth?”

While listening to Reed tell him about some of the things he wanted Harry to track, he finally noticed that Luna Lovegood was quietly standing near-by and watching the screen. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to her much the night before, but he had seen her swaying to the music by herself. Her almost white-blonde hair caught the eye.

Harry made eye-contact and nodded with a very slight bow at the waist, “Heir Lovegood.”

The witch just smiled and waved.

Seeing him do it, Reed told him that he'd better sign off so Harry could socialize. Before signing off, Harry promised he'd be diligent in taking the notes and other observations Reed had asked for as part of the loan of the equipment.

While Harry was shutting down the connection, Luna sat down in the chair next to him. When he brought up his browser again, she almost squeaked, “Is that the Internet? Goodness! I never thought I would see it at Hogwarts!”

Harry was surprised by this. So far, the average Magical he'd run into had as much knowledge of technology as he knew of 13th Century pottery making techniques...which was to say very little. “I'm surprised you recognize it.”

Luna nodded, her eyes with the same wide, surprised look Harry had noticed was just her resting face look, “Oh yes! I have often used various internet cafes, especially in Sweden. Daddy and I do a lot of travel looking for cryptids. Being able to tap into potential sightings by Muggles is very helpful.”

Seeing Harry searching his memory for what a cryptid was she elaborated, “A cryptid is a creature thought to be mythical or extinct but is not.”

“Oh right! Yeah, like Nessie or Yetis,” Harry said.

Luna giggled, “Yetis are not cryptids, silly. They are a Class B being like centaurs!”

Harry blinked at this before smiling sheepishly, “I guess a lot of creatures and beings I was taught were myths or fiction are real, aren't they?”

Luna nodded but was distracted by something behind Harry. Harry turned, “Oh, speaking of creatures, come here Fizzgig.”

His kneazle had obviously used the little pet door he'd spied before going to bed the night before. Hedwig had chosen to stay the night in the Owlery even though Harry's suite had a way for her to come and go. Harry figured she'd probably split her time between both.

Fizzgig came up and Harry was shocked to see his cat forgo the opportunity to be annoying and try to jump up and sit on his laptop. Instead, Fizzgig jumped on to Luna's lap instead. In short order he was purring up a storm as Luna scratched him and in a soft, baby voice told him what a beautiful beast he was.

Harry watched for a moment before Fizzgig looked over at him, “You little traitor!” To Luna, “Given you go looking for animals, I guess you're used to them? I know kneazles can be picky who they socialize with. I don't think I've ever seen Fizzgig go right to someone like that.”

Luna nodded before kissing Fizzgig between the ears, “Yes, I do seem to have a way with them. However that is a very common trait found in the Magical world. The Lovegood family line has it often enough. Though many animals also respond better to people with strong magical auras.”

“Well I guess we'll find out about that soon enough,” Harry said. The Sorting was only one part of the orientation. The other was The Determination. The pompous sounding ritual was important. Unlike the tradition of not telling children how they would be Sorted, the Determination wasn't a secret.

While Andromeda hadn't gone into the mechanics, she had given him a quick overview. Given she was the Healer from St. Mungo’s who was sent to assist with the process, she was very familiar with it. The main thing would be that they'd be interacting with the wards of Hogwarts. In doing so, the magic of the person being tested would cause an artifact to glow. The brighter the glow, the more power the person had. Andromeda and warned (and Dora confirmed) that even though the test was imperfect (the intensity of the glow was subjective) a lot of people put great stock into it.

This even after they would all be doing the test again at the end of their 2nd Year to help them decide what electives they'd take. Then they'd take it again before their OWLs. All of these tests were for the instructors and the person themselves help to judge what they could or couldn't do. Many magical jobs barely required a wand. There were many potions even Squibs like his Aunt Petunia could make. Other jobs, like curse-breakers or ward layers, needed a lot of personal power.

Sadly, there were so many factors involved as to how bright the glow would get. Sickness, environment raised in, gender, family magicks, bloodline curses, and the like could all have an effect. But the biggest one, the one most ignored, was simply this was the first time (baring serious accidental magic events) that the young witch or wizard would be expressing their magic, especially after their initial connection to their wand.

This last bit was also a big reason for the Determination to be done in the first place. Magical schooling with wands started at fourteen for a lot of political, symbolic and ideological reasons. However, the biggest reason was fourteen was seen as old enough that the main phase of puberty would be past and the body could begin to deal with having magic focused through it. The Determination would wash through a body like a flash flood down a mostly dry creek bed, clearing out any debris.

The main issue was regardless of the stern lecture they would get, regardless that they would undergo this test two more times (three if one wanted to stay on the Quidditch team), too many people were pegged by their initial reading. In days past, it was done individually but somehow the results _always_ leaked. So all of the First-Years would do it together and witness the results where they could get the lectured which Dora said everyone ignored.

Harry wasn’t too worried. He was the only Potter of the direct line left. Andromeda said that alone with his family magicks would give him a good result. That and he had powerful parents (not always an indicator but usually a reliable one) and a history in his Paternal line of the same. He was worried how his spider-powers might affect it. Ollivander had commented that he rarely saw a display as bright when a wand bonded with its new owner as had happened with Harry and his wand. Of course that might have been due to the weird connection his wand had with the wand that had killed his parents and almost had killed him.

Luna cocked her head to the side and sighed sadly, “As if we need another thing to further divide us. It is so disappointing that after all these centuries, Hogwarts lacks a general common area where a large number of students can gather. Once the weather turns, we shall be confined to small groups, mostly of our own House.”

“Well…one might say that keeping gatherings small reduces the chance for change to happen. Harder for people, say Muggleborn or raised, to broach ideas and show they have broad support. When the weather gets nicer, most people are going to be more focused on not being cooped up anymore. So, as we say in the Muggle world, the lack of a large gathering area outside the Great Hall is a feature not a bug,” Harry said carefully. Of course the Great Hall might as well be called the Great Cafeteria given it was seen as a place to eat, not socialize or study. The limited amount of time could use it was hampered by the House tables and the stigma of sitting at a different House's table.

Luna thought on this, “Yes. I do believe there is truth to that. Well-reasoned, Heir Potter.”

Harry smiled at her unintentional impression of the Ravenclaw doorknocker...and the Sorting Hat now that Harry thought of it. Before he could reply, however, he spied Hermione coming down the stairs. He waved her over. She looked tired and her bushy hair had put up a fight against her trying to tame it and had mostly won.

Harry grinned his lop-sided grin, “Rough night, Hermione?”

“Shush, you!” Hermione said as she plopped into the chair next to him. She certainly looked like she could use another few hours of sleep. “I know I should have gone to bed earlier, but for the first time in my life I was at a party with people like me. Even the Pure-bloods who were testy still were book lovers like me.”

Harry nodded, “Yeah, one half party: one half book-club meeting. Hermione, in case you missed it last night, this is Heir Luna Lovegood. Luna, Hermione Granger. She and I met briefly before yesterday even though neither knew the other was magical.”

Hermione snorted at his comment before turning to Luna, “So...was I supposed to curtsy or something before I sat down?”

Luna giggled at this, “No, that would be silly. True, in a more formal arena such as a fancy holiday party there would be bowing and curtsies, but here at school, there is almost none of that. Most of what the prefects will probably be telling us later is more geared toward having students not cause some sort of insult that would reflect badly to their House or get someone like you into trouble because you don't know the social rules. Much of that is subjective; Harry sadly has no one to represent his House other than him. It is doubtful you could create an issue with him. As for me, Daddy cares little for such things. You would have to physically do something to me to get him to become involved.”

Hermione nodded at that, “Makes sense. Sort of reminds me of Shakespearean plays when you would have the Prince being off-duty as it were. People could treat him more like a normal person even though everyone knew he was royalty. They wouldn't dare do the same in court.”

Luna hummed in agreement, “Yes that is a very good analogy.”

Harry snorted, “I figure the best way to think of it, at least for some like Heir Malfoy, would be to think of them as potentially spoiled gentry kids or maybe their parents are really, really rich. So don't give them a chance to whine to their parents and we should be fine.”

“Especially in Draco's case given his father is on the Hogwarts Board of Directors,” Luna said. “Best stay away from him, Hermione. His family is capable of many things which few other Houses would dare try.”

Hermione thought about that, “Well a lot of people did warn not to just jump in and talk about how we do things in the real wor...dammit! I did it again.”

Harry snickered, “Don't feel bad. I keep catching myself and calling it 'the real world' too.”

“Do not feel ashamed, Hermione,” Luna said serenely. “Most students here at Hogwarts will do the same to you, but in reverse. As much as I am a Pure-blood witch who can trace my lineage back centuries, I agree with you. The Magical world is wondrous but small and by being kept secret, it is diminished. What you call the real world is loud, garish, often horrible. Yet it teems with people all bustling around and living life. Too many wizards apparate or floo everywhere and never actually see much outside our tiny enclave. They have put chains on themselves and when you point it out, it is _**you**_ they blame for not believe that chains make you free.”

Both Harry and Hermione blinked at this. It wasn't the sort of topic one expected to hear before breakfast. Luna seemed to realize this as she blushed, “My apologies. Daddy runs the Quibbler and we often publish points of view not widely held. I did not mean to preach.”

Harry shook his head, “You don't have to apologize. I'd glad I know there is at least one person who is willing to give a different view of the Magical world. I don't know about Hermione, but I've already picked up a lot of things are being said while it's obvious that opposite is being done.”

Hermione nodded, “Yes; I saw that too. Even as early as the first visit by Professor McGonagall. Many of her answer to the question my parents and I had all seemed like the rote answer given to deflect the question. Well, it's not like this will be something I'm not used to. Being looked down at for being smart, for enjoying school has been my life so far.”

“I do not wish to be rude...I apparently am according to my friend Ginny, perhaps it might help if you partook in a potion Harry's family invented. It would help if your hair was not such a disaster...oh dear; I just was rude there, was I not?” Luna asked.

Harry laughed even as Hermione flushed in embarrassment. “What are you talking about Luna?”

Luna paused as if to see if Hermione was angry at her words or not before continuing, “Your Grandfather Charlus Potter invented the Sleekeasy Hair potion.” Luna dropped her tone of her voice and said in clipped tones, “ _Two drops tames even the most bothersome barnet_ ". If you are around a Wizard Wireless often enough, I am sure you will hear the ad. Daddy told me that Lord Potter told him in an interview he did before Harry and I were born that he got the idea while flying Spitfires in the war. Something to do with Muggle lubricants and the like.”

Harry's eyes almost bugged out, “My grandfather flew in the War? Wow! My aunt never told me that.”

Hermione looked confused, “Why would a wizard fly a regular plane?”

Luna shrugged, “There were many who volunteered to fight as regular Muggles. However when Grindelwald's role in the war became clear, many witches and wizards fought besides Muggles to help maintain the Statute of Secrecy. Lord Potter was decorated for fending off an attack by the Knights of Walpurgis who were helping the Nazis by attacking RAF fighters with wyvern-riders during the Blitz.”

“Are there any books which lay this all out? My cousin Dora Tonks said the ghost teaching history tends to focus far too much on the various goblins wars and revolts,” Harry asked.

Luna nodded, “I am sure our library or the main Hogwarts library does. If not, Daddy can send me some I know we have at home.” She turned back to Hermione, “Ask around and I am sure someone has an owl order form given we cannot go to Hogsmeade till next year. I am sure you might find someone to spot you enough till then.”

Luna looked pensive for a moment, “Especially once it becomes known you are friends with Heir Potter. Then I am sure many will try to curry favor with you as a way to get to him.”

Hermione frowned at that before her eyes grew wide and locked onto Harry's lap like a laser. “Is that what I think it is?”

Harry held up his hands, “Okay, before you freak out into a jealous rage, I'd like to point out that I am very lucky to have this and it's only through a mutual friend I have it. But yes, it's a laptop and yes it works even...”

Harry was interrupted by his phone going off. Everyone in the room was now looking at him as he answered it, “Hello? Oh hey Peter! What are you doing up so late? Oh, well that makes sense although I hope you didn't get in trouble with your aunt. I mean it's like almost 1am where you are, right? You do have school later. Look, I appreciate the call but you need to get some sleep and I'm not in a place I can talk, okay? Yeah, I'll email you later. Maybe we can set up a Skype chat together with Mary-Jane later. Yup...okay; talk to you soon. Bye!”

Harry ended the connection. He was about to stash it back in his robes before he took in how everyone was staring at him. Harry switched his phone back on and set it to mute and vibrate. If this was how the smart kids at Hogwarts acted at seeing him on the phone, well he just hoped most wizards weren't into pitchfork and torches type mobs!

Harry put his phone away and turned back to the wide-eyed Hermione, “So, where was I? Right, my mutual friend Peter Parker who just happens to be the one who just called. It's because of him I have a phone and laptop that works here regardless of the wards. That and I'm sure they don't have any cell towers anywhere near here. Anyway, he just happened to complain about not being able to talk to me while I was off at school to about the only person who could probably have created these. That being Dr. Reed Richards.”

Harry was surprised that Luna's eyes widened a bit more. He wasn't surprised at Hermione's squeak at this, “You know the world-famous REED RICHARDS?!?!”

Harry held up his hand, “Whoa there! Knowing him is a (if you'll pardon the pun) stretch. My friend Peter didn't make the cut to get into the Baxter Building Project, but he did get an internship directly with Dr. Richards and Dr. Susan Storm. Peter's dad was a really important scientist before he died and Mary-Jane told me that Peter's almost like a legacy pledge at uni. He got a leg in the door due to his parents. Anyway, Dr. Richards is obviously read into the Magical world because he picked up that I wasn't going to just any old boarding school in Scotland. So he sends me the phone and laptop to test two things; can they work under the wards and can they charge from those wards. So I'm being used more as a handy test case more than anything else.”

Hermione shook her head in wonder, “That's amazing! And bloody lucky if you'll pardon my language.”

Harry laughed, “You won't get any arguments out of me. The best thing for me, however, is I've already planted the seeds of heading out to New York over the summer to take part in some accelerated courses with Peter at the Baxter Building. Dr. Storm said the Union is rather leery of allowing any wizards to be scientifically tested. While I can see their point, Reed and Sue are about the last people who are going to misuse the data. I think they are hoping to find a way to help their friend Ben Grimm.”

Luna perked up at this, “He is the one cursed with the rock form, yes? Daddy had all sorts of questions about him.”

Harry nodded, “He's the one, alright. I'm just stoked because I had an idea to become an engineer. I'm a decent artist and I thought working on CAD development type stuff would be a good career. Now? Sure I'm rich, supposedly, but I don't want to lag behind in technology. So I'm trying to sneak-in and snag as much super-science I can to make up for being here 9 months out of the year. It's going to be enough of a stretch to keep up with regular schooling.”

Hermione beamed at that, “Oh good! Then I'm not the only one doing that. You having access to the internet is going to help if only it will allow all of us doing that to download stuff. Still will be a pain to hand write everything and mail it in.”

“Yeah, I've already decided that if there is one thing I'm not going to budge on is that I am not going to use a quill. I don't care if they threaten to expel me. It's the bloody 21st Century and if they won't at least let me use a calligraphy pen, I'm out of here. So if I have to use my 'I'm the Boy-Who-Lived' card, I will,” Harry said in a clipped tone.

Luna sighed, “I have nothing against tradition but yes, the use of quills has been a sore spot for a long, long time. The stated reason is to prevent cheating, but the use of such special quills only happens during OWLs and NEWTs. They are not even required for our end of term exams.”

Hermione frowned at that, “So is there some big quill making lobby? It would seem anyone with an owl and a penknife could save a lot of money. Or is there an ink guild that bribes the Board of Directors or something?”

Luna looked sad and shook her head, “Not exactly, although I would say there is something to that. No; it is simply an example of it always being this way. Personally I believe it has much more to do with allowing calligraphy pens or regular Muggle pens would be seen as just another way the Magical world is losing out to the Muggle one. Even our school uniform is a bone of contention as there are elements who want to change it to mimic the Muggle uniform.”

Hermione blinked at this in surprise, “Really? Why? The current one makes me feel like I’m about to head out to a Renaissance Faire but considering how fast fashioned changed from what was basically static for centuries, I understand why it’s this way.”

Harry nodded, “I was wondering about the symbolic aspect of it given this style is better suited to the Middle East or Egypt. I figured that it was a nod towards those ancient cultures where Western magical tradition mostly came from.”

Luna spread her hands, “Both are you are correct. The ICW, that is the International Confederation of Wizards; a sort of magical United Nations, has been pushing for certain positions to mandate something closer to current Muggle wear. You would not know it, but Albus Dumbledore is famous for his flashy wizarding robes. Yet he was one of the first to help push the ICW for the change. So you are starting to see more wizards working in the Ministry wearing things like suits and ties. Daddy me showed a picture of the Headmaster in a suit once. It was back in the 40’s and I must say that Professor Dumbledore looked rather dashing.”

Comprehension dawned in Hermione’s eyes, “Ah! I can see that if Hogwarts students, especially the NEWT students wore your standard UK school uniform, they’d already be trained up to be able to mingle better.”

Luna nodded, “Exactly. However, the Traditionalists have been blocking it and Daddy does not see anything changing for the foreseeable future.”

Harry scowled at this, “Well if they’re still using quills, a modern school uniform might as well be seen as almost Satanic interference.”

Luna giggled at that, “I would not have used that sort of analogy, but yes. To an outsider, many of our ways might seem like they are right out of a holy book to a vengeful deity who likes to smite those who do not comply.”

Harry chuckled at that, “Well I guess that will make me the village heretic then. I’m only going to put up with so much. I can always transfer to Salem and stay with my friend Peter. I’m hoping that if I’m going to be stuck with fame I didn’t earn; I might as well get some use out of it.

**OoOoO**

“Hey Looney! Wait up!” cried a voice from behind them.

Harry turned to see a ginger-headed wizard in Gryffindor robes jogging towards them from the Great Hall. While escorted to breakfast, they were told to find their way back. Harry was certain this was a test to see how lost all the Firstie could get. Why they couldn’t get a map was something Harry couldn’t understand.

Luna turned as well as did Hermione. The blonde had an uncharacteristic scowl on her face, “Ronald, I do believe I have told you many times not to call me that. This is especially true now unless you want the likes of Draco to call you out for disrespecting the heir of House Lovegood.”

The Gryffindor made a face, “Ah come one, Looney; it's just me. I've known you my entire life. You don't have to be all shirty and all.”

“And I have been putting up with _you_ for all of mine. What do you want?” Luna said tartly.

“What I want is to know why are you here? You're not supposed to be here till next year with Ginny,” the teen said.

“And yet here I am, Ronald. Perhaps if your mother allowed you all to be part of the larger magical world more often you might have remembered that I am an heir to an Ancient and Noble house and such there are certain allowances for those in my position. But dear me, that is just more of that 'high and mighty rubbish' you Weasleys go out of your way to denigrate,” Luna said primly. “Come to think on it, I seem to recall Daddy holding to certain customs was the stated reason for Ginevra having to stop coming over.”

Both Harry and Hermione exchanged glances. Neither had known Luna for very long but her contempt for Ronald was very obvious even if restrained.

The Gryffindor's flushed. Whether it was embarrassment or anger, Harry couldn't tell, but he figured it was up to him to be diplomatic. “Excuse me, but I don't think we've been introduced?”

The ginger-haired boy smiled widely and stuck out his hand, “Yeah, right. I'm Ron Weasley. It's great to finally meet the Boy-Who-Lived at last. Can't believe you ended up with the bookworms instead of with us Lions. I think my mum would disown me if I hadn't ended up in the best house in Hogwarts.”

Luna let out a small, disappointed sigh while Hermione's eyes narrowed and she scowled. Harry simply looked at the hand being offered to him. “Okay, I'm new at this given I really didn't get involved with the Magical world till recently. Normally I'd cheerfully shake hands with you. On the other hand, I'm not sure what to make of you telling me that you're glad to see me as you insult me at the same time. Actually you insulted all three of us.”

Ron's smile faded, “What do you mean?” He suddenly looked suspicious, “You're not going to be all toff like Malfoy, are you?”

Luna sighed again, “Ronald, you really should listen to William. He told you before he left for Egypt that you needed to understand the rules better. Harry is not being a toff. He certainly is nothing like Draco. What he is doing is trying to abide by the culture he now finds him in. You do realize, I hope, that you broke about every rule of protocol just now?”

“Not to mention insulting me,” Harry said. “I've never been called a bookworm by anyone meaning it as anything but an insult. Just because my parents were Gryffindors has little to do with me considering I only remember my parents when having nightmares about the night they died. So yeah, I'm not trying to be aloof or anything; I'm just trying to fit in with the new rules. If you can't understand that, then perhaps you should naff off right now. You're already off on the wrong foot with me and that's not even considering how your dad figures into.”

Ron seemed to deflate, “Hey, leave my dad out of this, okay? It's not his fault he's all...” He trailed off as if words failed him.

Luna looked at Harry, “When did you meet Arthur, Harry?”

Harry explained his experience at the bank.

Luna looked sad while Ron looked one-part embarrassed and one-part defeated, “Look, I know I put my foot into it, but don't peg me and my brothers, or sister either, from my Dad. He's a bit...touched in the head. But it's not his fault.”

Harry frowned, “So is he on medications or something? I don't understand.”

Luna shook her head, “Ronald's father does not have a mental affliction, not like you would think of it. He's suffering from spell damage, just like Daddy is. Mr. Weasley was part of a strike group of witches and wizards headed up by Headmaster Dumbledore back during the war called the Order of the Phoenix. Your parents were also involved as was my uncle Neoptolemus. Ronald's father was badly injured the night my aunt Melissa's husband Botholio was killed. Daddy was similarly injured when the Dark Lord tried to break into the Unspeakables sanctum in the Ministry. They can function well enough, but they are certainly...eccentric.”

Hermione gasped, “They must have been badly hurt. Given what I've read of magical medicine, I would think fixing them would be easier.”

Ron shook his head at that but it was Luna who responded, “Sadly Magicals lag behind Muggles in the terms of mental health. Daddy is on certain Muggle medicines that help. Ronald's mother refuses for Mr. Weasley to even be looked at. However, most Magicals feel that way so she is not being obtuse.”

“Yeah, it would take Merlin returning to get mum to take Dad to a Muggle doctor. Even the Diggorys tried to get mum to change her mind but nope; she's not going to change. Of course Aunt Muriel doesn't help given her feelings on Muggles,” Ron explained.

Harry thought on this a bit before turning to Ron, “Okay, let's just pretend this meeting didn't happen. I'm sure you have some reason why your family does what it does. That's fine, but until I get a better feel for everything, I'm going to go with what Andromeda Tonks outlined for me. I know most people don't like the Blacks, but she's been a big help.”

Ron chuckled, “Well I can't say much about that since my Grand-Mum was just like Mrs. Tonks. The Blacks didn't even wait till she wed to throw her out of the family.”

“It sounds like you must live close to Luna...and know that Malfoy kid,” Hermione pointed out.

Ron scowled, “I went to St. Michael's School of Wizardry with him. Luna and Cedric Diggory did at well.”

“We all live near a village called Ottery St. Catchpole. St. Michael's is where we had our initial schooling. It is like a combined primary and secondary school. Of course, most of our classmates are still there till they finish with their OWLs. We will see them again if they go for their NEWTs as Hogwarts is the only post-OWL school in these islands. And yes, Draco Malfoy was unfortunately there as well. It is worse now as many of his father's allies children are all together now here at Hogwarts.”

“Ruddy Slytherins! Can't trust any of them!” Ron growled.

Harry laughed, “Oh really? I could have been sorted as one and the Sorting Hat told me that he would have put Hermione here in Slytherin if the house was more like it was when the Founders first created them.”

Ron looked disgusted at this but Hermione perked up, “Really? Why?”

Harry laughed again, “Hermione, I haven't known you for that long but if there is one thing I've noticed about you is that you’re ambitious. You want to make changes. I thought you hat-stalled because you were trying to argue with the Hat to put you into Ravenclaw instead of Slytherin.”

Hermione blushed, “Actually it was Gryffindor.”

Ron beamed, “Good for you! Best house in Hogwarts!”

Luna snorted very quietly at this and Harry found it hard not to grin at this given Ron was acting very much of the trope the Third-Year Ravens had described. “So the Hat said. He told me you had other avenues to get your Lion side out. I'm glad he did.”

Harry turned to Ron, “So, like I said, let's pretend this meeting didn't happen. Now if you excuse us, we were heading to the library. Maybe when we meet again in class, we can try this again?”

Ron had a sour look on his face, “Yeah, okay I guess.”

The three Ravens watched as he turned and went back towards the Great Hall. Luna sighed, “I will warn you that you can expect a more energetic greeting from his twin brothers Alfred and George. They are like living with a poltergeist as they live to prank. Their oldest brother Percival is the Gryffindor's Fifth-Year wizard prefect and, unlike the rest of the family, he will treat you as your rank deserves. It is unfortunate he has a dour personality and aspires to politicking in the Ministry as his life goal. You will meet my one-time friend Ginevra next year.

As the trio returned to walking to the Hogwarts library, Hermione asked, “How many are in that family. You mentioned a William in Egypt?”

Luna nodded, “And then there is Charles, the second eldest, who is currently working as a dragon handler at a reserve in Romania.”

“Wow! Are big families like that common in the Wizarding world?” Harry asked.

Luna shook her head and looked a little troubled, “No. Indeed it is rare for Magicals to have more than two children and many struggle to have one. It is believed our magical core makes it difficult to carry a baby to term. It is why Magicals marry early even though we live so much longer. For Mrs. Weasley to have seven children living children with only one miscarriage is so rare to be almost legendary. It has spurred rumors she had done something illegal to have so many children, but nothing has ever come of such accusations.”

“Huh...well that explains a few things. I did wonder why witches weren't giving birth into their 60's or 70's like one might expect with the relative age difference to non-magical humans,” Hermione said.

“It does happen,” Luna said. “Harry's father was considered to be an almost miracle baby given how late in his grandmother's life that he was born.

“Wow. My family doesn't seem to do normal, do they?” Harry said with an embarrassed grin.

Luna giggled, “Oh the Potters have always stuck out like a sore thumb; it seems to be in your blood not to fit in with the rest.”

Harry had to smirk at that. If only Luna knew what was in _**his**_ blood. Blending in was in the cards for him and for the first time since his Uncle Vernon had died, he was okay with that.

**XxXxX**

**A** **UTHOR’S NOTES**

For those who don't know the idiom, the chapter title comes from the phrase “Sticks out like a sore thumb” which means that not only is there no blending in, contact hurts!

**McGonagall** : I find it interesting that it’s only now, after 10 years of writing Harry Potter fan-fiction that I realized that while Minerva is certainly Scottish, her family name is Irish. From what I can tell, it is very much Mac = Scottish and Mc = Irish. 

**Stair Cardio** : I lived on an upper floor EVERYWHERE I trained and/or was posted to in my first seven years of my military service. Going up and down 3 flights of stairs when you are posted in Colorado Springs (and thus a mile high) got old VERY quickly. I’m betting First-Year Lions and Ravens will be cursing their lot for the first month or so.

**Weasley Issues** :

I'm not going to write Ron out of the fic, but I did want to give a reason why there would be tension given how I'm viewing the magical economy (see my Vexations chapters in my FF.net Pernicious Story Bunnies) and why you might have a divide which didn't rely on the Weasley's being poor. It also gives an out for Arthur to have a medical reason for being how he is. I think he has the job that he does because A.) a lot of pure-bloods wouldn't take it, B.) he can't do that much damage, and C.) it's half reward and half pity for his Order of the Phoenix work. It also helps explain in stories using a more _Manipulative!Dumbledore_ trope how Arthur seems to just go along with things. It also shows how Molly may have done things she might not normally do but she's got to keep her family together.

Regarding names: Arthur named all his children except Ron after kings or Arthurian knights. Ginny's name is a derivative of Guinevere to count. Ron's the only one whose name makes no sense. In keeping with the naming schema, Ronald should have been Roland. The closest you can get with Ronald is that the Old Norse breakdown of the name has an element of meaning ruler but that is only one version. Others are closer to advisor which I can’t see Ron being.

If you look at the names, was JKR trying to be cute with the naming order? You have (A)rthur, (B)ill and then (C)harlie. There is a gap between Charlie and Percy which I explain as being a miscarriage. Going with Arthurian names, let's call the would be baby Dindrane because it might explain why the “E” name is Percival give Dindrane was his sister and in many versions of Arthurian stories was very important. Frankly there are a LOT of “E” king names so I think JKR picked Percival simply because Percy implies the sort of fussy person she wrote. Okay, so we've done A-E, then we get (F)red and then (G)eorge. Then we get an interesting little tidbit that I don't think JKR meant. Instead of a Harold or Henry, she gave us Ronald. But what is one of Ron's fears? That Harry is sort of the stand in for the son Molly wishes she'd had. So Harry fits into the slot Ron has! That and both Harold and Henry are names of British kings so Harry’s name fits that slot better than Ron himself.

While Frederick is a “kingly” name (As is Septimus, Fabian & Gideon) it is more likely he's Alfred given how there were actual English king named that. Also, I believe that Molly isn't Mrs. Weasley's real name. Molly is a common derivative of Mary and that is a queen’s name which fits with all the other Weasleys in her family. So just as Alfred prefers to go by Fred and Harold/Henry prefers to go by Harry, she does the same. In my view of her being from a 'higher house' (i.e. House Prewitt) I feel that while she wasn't disowned like Andromeda or Cedrella, she chose to give up being Mary Prewitt to become Molly Weasley. I also feel that even though she probably was raised in a manner closer to the Malfoys, she is a “convert” to how the Weasleys feel about things to the point of going to extremes. Also, I find it odd that so many fanons (and to some degree in canon) there is this huge anti-Black sentiment by the Weasleys when Arthur's _**mother**_ was a Black!


	5. Dark Discoveries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While it may seem odd that I'm doing a lot of world-building on the magical side only to jump Harry over to the MCU side, I'm always refining my fanon. Indeed, there is a lot of stuff I could toss into this fic but I'm already done some in my other FF.net fics like Paging Dr. Bell and I'd always wanted to do it “completely” from the get-go in HP and Hogwarts U. Sadly this means I often have to go back to fics like PDrB and rewrite things. Oh well, I'd rather do that and be consistent. About the only one I don't bother with is Rejected Path given I've had to revise that enough already!

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _Never hide things from hardcore thinkers. They get more aggravated, more provoked by confusion than the most painful truths._ ” **Criss Jami (The Killosopher)** –American existentialist poet, songwriter and essayist – 1987 – Present

**LAST UPDATED ON** : 05-03-2020

**SLYTHERIN HOUSE OFFICE, DUNGEONS, HOGWARTS, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 3** **rd** **, 2010 – MORNING**

Harry waited as Professor Snape sat behind his desk with an impassive look on his already dour face. Finally the older wizard sighed, “I find myself at a bit of a loss. Why did you want to speak with me, especially before your potions orientation? I am not in a position, nor do I have the inclination, to give any favoritism due to your being an Heir.”

Harry shook his head, “I understand, sir. I do want your opinion on some things I wish to do. Given your profession as a Potions Master, I felt you would be the best to consult. However, the main reason I wanted to meet is personal.”

Snape clasped his hands together, leaned forward and rested his chin on his hands, “Go on.”

Harry took a deep breath, “Professor, I apologize if what I'm about to say is in anyway presumptuous or even insulting. I just wanted to talk to you in private because I have heard quite a bit about you, sir. Most of that was negative, but I don't want others to bias me against someone who can tell me another side of my life denied to me; stories about my mother.”

Snape's eyes narrowed but he simply continued to stare at Harry.

“You see sir, my Aunt Petunia doesn't like you. However, I picked up quite early that her problem with you was more that you were helping taking her sister away from her. Taking her into a life she couldn't follow. So I feel everything she told me about you is, at best, suspect,” Harry explained. “And I had others tell stories about you. Given many revolved around a...rivalry with my father, I felt it was better to talk to you and find out for myself.”

Snape made a small sound of agreement, “Yes; you aunt and I never saw eye-to-eye on almost everything. I was poor and working class growing up; you aunt was a status climber even back then. Did she end up marring that horridly fat Muggle?”

Harry nodded, “Yes she did. Uncle Vernon was a hard man. Not as hard as what my aunt implied your dad was. Still, no matter how harsh he was, he tried to be less like his own father.”

Snape raised one eyebrow in muted surprise, “That is surprising. He certainly was an odious teenager. What does he do?”

Harry looked away, “Nothing anymore; I accidentally killed him when I was nine.”

Snape dropped his hands to gripped his desk, “What? Why? Was he beating you?”

Harry shook his head, embarrassed that a tear was already formed and beginning to run down his cheek, “No. Oh, he would give me the belt at times, but he did that to his own son Dudley. No, he was trying to help me. My cousin Dudley is...well he has issues due to a form of autism. It causes violence as the child gets older. Dudley was also paranoid that his parents liked me best. One day he just flat out tried to strangle me to death. Uncle Vernon was trying to pry Dudley off me when I had a burst of accidental magic. As you said, my uncle was obese and he had a bad heart. He died in my arms. Still, he didn't want me to feel like it was my fault. A hard man, a drinker and like you said, he was a status climber. In the end though, he at least was trying to be better than his own father.”

Snape was silent for a moment while Harry composed himself, “I assume your cousin is in some form of long-term medical facility?”

Harry nodded.

Snape was once again silent for a while. “I am sorry for your loss. Having lost your own parents, losing another must have been difficult. I am also sure it almost destroyed Petunia. She was always was a co-dependent type. This does explain a few things I have wondered about over the years.”

Harry looked up, “Sir?”

Snape sighed, “I am sure you will not be surprised to know that with your fame and notoriety due to the events which lead to the downfall of the Dark Lord, that you were under surveillance.”

Harry shook his head, “No. I knew that Mrs. Figg would talk to the Headmaster every so often. It wasn't till recently till I fully understood why. Back when I was younger, I thought it was simply because I was a Magical living alone with my Aunt. For that matter, I didn't know Aunt Petunia was a squib till a few weeks ago.”

Snape nodded, “Exactly. I was surprised by many of the reports she made. You certainly did not act like either of your parents. Of course I wasn't told you had accidentally killed your uncle so I'm beginning to wonder what else I might not have been told.”

Harry shrugged, “Aunt Petunia needed me and I...I had guilt for a long time till I went to Stonewall and met a friend who helped me. So yeah, from stories Aunt Petunia told me, I'm probably more like my mum but even then, I like the quiet life more. That, however, may be changing.”

Snape raised an eyebrow again, “Oh?”

Harry's faced hardened, “Sir, if I may be blunt? I don't want to use my notoriety as the Boy-Who-Lived. First of all, I don't believe any of it. My parents did something and I just happened to survive whatever it was. I also don't want to throw my weight around given I find myself head of an ancient House. That being said, it's 2010 and I am not going to stick around and be forced to write with a quill. Or write on parchment for that matter. I feel I have a responsibility to my family legacy but on the other hand, I grew up in the Muggle world and I have some important contacts there. I don't need to be here. I have friends in America so I can transfer to Salem or the Miskatonic institutes if I have to. They, at least, aren't making me write with something off an animal for God's sake!”

Snape's face was like stone for a moment. Then there was a quirk, a barest hint of a smile, “I'm surprised the Sorting Hat didn't put you in Gryffindor. You are being bold.”

Harry shook his head, “While the Sorting Hat said I'd do well in all the house, Slytherin as well, I'm not trying to be brave or bold here. I'm stating that if the Magical world is going to have magical trains and magical radio then why can't I at least use a calligraphy pen which has been in use for over three hundred years? It's bad enough I'm giving up typewriters, computers, the Internet and a host of other things that would help me in school; I draw the line at using something the rest of the world gave up centuries ago.”

Snape was silent before nodded, “Your views are not uncommon. Your mother and I felt the same way back in late 80's. I was rather handy with a typewriter back then and I still use it at home for my personal potion’s notes. I also think I can see why you came to me. Potions has always been the one of the most scientific of the classes. Potions masters, for quite some time now, have chaffed at how difficult it has been to initiate change that should be obvious. While your father and I had a...difficult relationship at best, he too felt that many of the school rules in this regard where too medieval.”

“Well, I learned from Heir Lovegood that my grandfather flew in the RAF in the War so I'm sure some of that must have rubbed off on him,” Harry said.

Snape nodded, “Just so.” Snape fell into silent thought before finally speaking again, “I cannot help you Heir Potter, not exactly. However, I can say you have allies among the staff, myself included. I suggest that you use this year’s unique collection of Heirs to your advantage. The 10 of you together represent a powerful future voting bloc. You especially, given while Narcissa Malfoy is currently voting the Black vote, that vote will fall to you on your majority due to Sirius Black having set you as his heir prior to your parent's death. Certainly, the likes of Mr. Malfoy and Nott aren't expected to take up their Houses soon but having as many of the heirs behind you and with the staff I know who would back you, I believe you have a chance.”

Harry gave a slight, seated bow at the waist, “Thank you Professor. That is exactly the type of counsel I was hoping for. I'm still very much trying to play catch-up with magical culture and all the politicking. I wish I'd known Mrs. Tonks earlier. She's been a big help.”

“And she is another ally to use. She will be here for the Determination; I would speak to the other Heirs quickly,” Snape pointed out. He rose, once again showing off immaculate robes. Harry had been impressed that everything about Professor Snape reeked of careful procedures. His clothes were obviously tailored to be in a lab and his long hair was in a tight braid instead of the long, flowing tresses most wizards Harry had seen favored. “Mr. Potter, I have duties to attend to. I would recommend you rapidly contact all the other Heirs. You have my permission to tell any of them that I support your actions. I cannot speak for them, but I would count Professors Sinestra, Babbage and Vector as others who will back you up. Indeed, Professor Sprout may also be one as well as I know she has been pushing for allowing more herbology at student’s homes. You’ll learn more about magical plants needing magical environments that your body can be the genesis for.”

Harry nodded and rose to leave, but he then remembered something he'd wanted to ask someone he felt he could trust, “I will sir. However, if you can spare another moment. What do you think of Professor Quirrell? I find him...unsettling.”

Harry's answer was a dark scowl.

**OoOoO**

“Who do you think called this meeting?” Zacharias Smith asked his fellow Badgers.

Susan Bones shrugged, “I only know what you know. Just that a house-elf had asked that we meet here and it had been directed by Professor Snape.”

Hannah Abbot turned toward the table where the male Slytherins were hanging out, “Theo? You have any idea? He's your House head after all.”

Theodore Nott’s face was impassive but even so he shrugged, “We all are in the dark. I just know that if Professor Snape wants us here, it must be important.”

“I want to know where is Potter and Lovegood?” Draco said with a bit of heat. “They're the only ones of the Heirs missing. We shouldn't have to wait for the likes of them.”

Morag MacDougal spoke up, “I'm not sure where Lovegood might be, but I know Harry may be running late due to the Potions orientation for the Muggleborn and raised. Given that is run by Professor Snape, I doubt he would keep him from being here unless the class ran long.”

Daphne Greengrass looked up from the travel-sized chess board she was playing on against Neville Longbottom, “Well I'm just hoping they are up to scratch. You know that even as heirs, we may still be paired up with a Muggleborn in potions. Professor Snape makes a point of it.”

“Just great! Might as well pair us up with Gryffindors as well,” Draco sneered.

Susan sneered back, “Worried they might show you up in front of your godfather, Draco? My auntie says that most Muggleborn fit in fine because of their Muggle schooling in chemistry. They just haven't had the experience with the ingredients or the symbolism we've already learned about.”

“I'll believe it when I see it,” Draco said with a huff.

“Careful Draco, with your potions scores Professor Snape might assign you a promising Muggleborn,” Daphne said with a sly smile as she moved a rook to take one of Neville's pawns.

Quite a few heirs snickered at this before the door of the empty classroom they'd been asked to go to opened up and Harry Potter hustled in. Heir Lovegood came in far more stately manner. “Sorry I'm late! One of the Gryffindor Muggleborns got us an additional lecture on safety.”

Both Draco and Theo huffed at this, “Figures,” Draco sneered.

As Luna sat down, Harry waited till everyone was looking at him before he bowed towards everyone as an equal, “Okay, I apologize in advance for not knowing the protocols. But as I'm sure you all know, I'm Harry Potter, heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter. You are here due to Professor Snape's recommendation I speak to you before classes start. You see, I would like your help.”

“Our help? You rudely spurned a meeting before and now you want my help?” Draco asked with heat in his voice.

Harry shook his head, “No, I don't want _your_ help, Heir Malfoy. I want _all of your_ help together. Because we have an opportunity to make some changes I believe most of us can agree need to happen. Professor Snape said that even though many of you won't come into your House for a long time, we all represent a potent bloc of power. Now what I'm asking may seem petty and perhaps it is. On the other hand, I think it represents something that we need to address as a culture.”

“Color me intrigued, Heir Potter,” Daphne said carefully. “Your family and Professor Snape do not have a good history together. That he'd help you is something, I must admit.”

Harry spread his hands out, “I have heard of the rivalry between my late father and Professor Snape. I don't care. I know my parents only through stories and Professor Snape has so far treated me fairly and without any hint of treating me any different than any other student and I'm totally okay with that.”

“So what's your pitch, Heir Potter? What do you want from us?” Smith asked. He was obviously suspicious of something Harry was trying to pull.

“First off, again I want to apologize if I cause any offense. So far I've found that many Magicals know almost next to nothing of the Muggle world and others are very knowledgeable. So please do not take offense if I get wrong how much you all know or don't know,” Harry asked.

Harry saw that the other heirs seemed to accept that. “Okay, here's my pitch. I grew up in the Muggle world and I'm very much entrenched in many of the sciences and the like. Don't get me wrong, magic is awesome. Yet there are a lot of things the Muggles do better in my opinion. But I'm not trying to start some big changes or promote overthrow of long-standing traditions. What I would like help from you all is that I refuse, categorically and unconditionally, to spend the next seven years writing with a quill on parchment.”

All the heirs except Luna blinked in surprise at this.

Harry grinned, “Look I realize there are a host of issues involved here. I don't care. I care about not having to do something that a better way was invented more than 300 years ago. I'm not talking about bringing in Muggle ballpoint pens. I'm simply asking we work together to at least allow calligraphy pens and regular paper. Because, frankly, I do think forcing us to use quills on unlined parchment is an easy way that Muggleborn and raised are instantly put at a disadvantage while being a general pain in the arse for everyone else. As the future leaders, I feel we have an opportunity here to step forward and say, 'No more.'”

The room was silent for a moment before Theo Nott sighed, “I hate to admit this, but I find myself agreeing with Heir Potter.”

Draco turned in surprise, “Theo! What are you talking about! We're Traditionalists! We're supposed to support our traditions.”

“Merlin take our traditions! We bloody well just took a train to get here! Also, where do you think we got the idea for the Wireless we both were listening to the Hornets game two weeks ago? I, for one, am tired of quills! I'm tired of ink splotches on my clothes and having people tell me I have ink on my nose! Heir Potter is right, a calligraphy pen is hardly asking that much!”

“He had me at regular, lined paper,” Neville said quietly.

Luna sighed, “I wish we could use typewriters. They're an old technology as well. Plus they could be easily charmed for the ink to last longer and even have anti-cheating charms.”

Morag laughed, “You and me both! If the ICW gets serious about forcing us to learn more Muggle things, then continuing to use quills is just asking for foreign interference. I'm sure you and your father wouldn't want that, right Draco?”

Draco scowled but didn't disagree.

“But if Heir Potter gets his way, what's going to be changed next?” Zacharias asked. “We're surrounded by Muggles and it's seeping in everywhere!”

“So? Look, again I realize I'm new here but my fellow heirs, there are seven billion Muggles on the planet right now. They have huge telescopes in orbit looking at the farthest reaches of space. They have satellites able to read the date off a galleon from orbit! There are CCTV cameras everywhere!” Harry pulled out his phone and took a picture of them. A few squeaked with surprise when Harry turned the phone around to show them the picture. “See? And I can use the Internet to send this picture all over the planet! The Magical world cannot keep itself hidden if you all don't know what the Muggles are doing. I'm frankly shocked you've kept it a secret as long as you have!”

“That's because in a way, we haven't,” Susan said with a sigh.

“What do you mean? The ICW would intervene if there was a problem,” Daphne scoffed.

“I mean that at the highest levels of Muggle government, especially their military and intelligence agencies, that they already know,” Susan explained.

“What?!?!” Both Theo and Draco said as they jumped to their feet. Many of the other heirs looked shocked as well.

Susan nodded, “You know my auntie is the head of the DMLE. So she's explained to me just how much the ICW and all the regional governments are involved keeping the Statute of Secrecy in full cooperation with the Muggles. The Muggles governments want to keep the secret as much as we do because they are just as worried of what will happen if it gets out. That and they want to keep another Grindelwald from happening. The Muggles are _**very**_ adamant they will take drastic action if another Magical Lord, Dark or Light, tries to interfere like Grindelwald did.”

“What could they do?” Draco sneered.

“Well Drakee, given you and your Traditionalists seem hell-bent on pushing out Muggleborn and tossing your squibs out into the cold, there are plenty of people out there more than willing to work with the likes of MI-6 and the military. I'm sure they know where Hogwarts is, Hogsmeade and the likes. Auntie has shown me that if the Muggles wage war on us, we'll lose because even if we are able to fend them off, we'll lose too many people to keep our society going in the face of all the Muggles. You might not like it, but I'm telling you that the Muggles are not the stupid, semi-animals you Dark types keep thinking they are.”

“Whoa! Okay now! I don't want this to get too political!” Harry said with his hands raised. “I am just advocating that we stand together and demand that we are allowed, if we choose, to use normal paper and calligraphy pens. I don't want to cause a big show-down on other issues. Professor Snape says a lot of teachers will back us up on this. So let's just focus on that, shall we?”

The tension that had been rising in the room seem to falter and then diminish.

Susan gave Harry a slight bow, “My apologies, Heir Potter. The wounds of the last war still are raw. You being raised by Muggles kept you from learning that.”

Harry nodded graciously in return, “Apology accepted. Again, maybe I'm just being a typical Ravenclaw, but to me this isn't about tradition or Magic versus Muggles. It's about the insanity of forcing us to try and learn using tools with no rational reason for using them other than some people feeling it's a slippery slope not to keep using them. I don't buy that and I refuse to buy it. I'm not asking people to start wearing jeans and tear down the Quidditch pitch to put in a footy one. No. I just want to write with something that I didn't have to take from an animal of all things. From what Professor Snape said, a lot of people feel this way and have done so for a long time. We ten have the power to actually make a change. So, my fellow heirs, what say you?”

The debate was heated at times but withing just a half an hour, Harry left with a smile on his face to go tell Professor Snape the good news.

**XxXxX**

**GREAT HALL, HOGWARTS, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 3** **rd** **, 2010 – AFTERNOON**

Harry waited with a mixed group of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs as the Determination went along. The group was mostly made up of the Heirs and their friends who hadn’t been through the ritual yet. They had just finished up with the “M’s” which had been a one of the larger groups. Harry was gratified to see that, so far, all of his friends and the Heirs had tested well.

There had been a bit of a stir when Hermione had tested as high as she did. So far she had tested higher than any of the non-Heir witches and was easily on par with the likes of Susan Bones and Daphne Greengrass. Given what Andromeda had said of family magicks giving Heirs a boost in power, that showed Hermione had some serious power under that bushy-mane of hair.

Harry had made sure to clap politely and not smirk when Draco had tested average at best. After the ritual, each student had gone into a magical tent on one side of the Great Hall to be evaluated. That and to possibly be cleaned up. Andromeda had warned him prior to coming to Hogwarts and all the students before the ritual that it was not uncommon to lose control of various bodily functions. This was seen as normal and often happened in relation to one’s personal power.

Susan had blushing admitted that she’d not only peed herself a bit but had orgasmed as well. Daphne had surprisingly admitted to the same. Harry had been surprised when she pointed out that this wasn’t surprising given it was a natural way for Magicals to shed excess magic and they’d learn more in a health class in a week or two. Of course everyone was wearing the magical equivalent of adult diapers which had been provided for just that potentiality.

Harry had noted that quite a few of the people, Hermione included, certainly hit climax as the ritual climaxed. Harry also noticed that in most cases, every student who had parents rumored to be Death Eaters tested poorly or average. Watching as Theodore Nott was being led to the tent, Harry felt that so far, his had been the best and even then Theo had been eclipsed by a lot of other students, Muggleborns especially.

Harry didn’t think that was going to bode well in terms of how the Pure-Bloods dealt with who they felt to be their inferior. From what Dora had told him, there was a strong “Magic is Might” undercurrent to many facets of Magical life. In the end, it usually wasn’t one’s politics that got one ahead, but instead it was one’s personal magical power. Harry figured Hermione was already on a lot of Pure-Blood Traditionalist’s shit list going forward.

Luna poked him slightly in the side, “You may wish to pay attention to this, Heir Potter.”

Harry looked up from where he’d been texting Mary-Jane to see Pansy Parkinson’s ritual finish up. It was clear that while her family had Death Eater connections, she had more power than the likes of Draco or Theo. In fact, Millicent Bulstrode seemed to be the most powerful, non-heir in Slytherin although Paul Runcorn was a strong second.

“Okay. Interesting, but why is that significant?” Harry whispered to Luna.

“Daddy said Mummy thought the Dark Mark would have a detrimental effect on children born after taking it. While followers of the Dark Lord, Pansy’s parents are not marked like her uncle is. From what I have heard, she looks to have easily outstripped her older cousin.”

“He’s the Seventh Year Slytherin prefect, right?” Harry asked to which Luna nodded. Harry had to wonder how that would play out down in the Snake Den. Daphne had been surprised when Bulstrode had tested so well. Daphne said she had gone to school with her and told that due to her height and looks, Bulstrode had often been teased. Harry wondered if this teasing would go down or up now.

After being surprised to see that the Patil twins tested slightly differently (with Padma, the older by a day, being slightly stronger) it was finally Harry’s time. He walked up to the Crystal of Power. Harry had to admit he had rolled his eyes at hearing such a pretentious name. Andromeda smiled at him as he moved into position.

The crystal itself was about the size of a football and was a mix of reds and pinks. It pulsed slightly like it had a heartbeat which wasn’t helped by vein-like threads in the crystal. It was embedded into a circular stone pedestal which ended at about a meter and then tapered off to a point where the crystal was set by a golden band.

Harry put his hands on the stone and looked to Andromeda and quietly said, “Be ready; something weird might happen.”

Andromeda frowned at this, but went forth with the ritual, “Are you, Heir Harry Potter ready for the Determination?”

“I am ready to have my worth shown!” Harry replied loud enough to be heard. This was another bit of theater. Having one’s voice squeak or otherwise sound worried was not a good sign for one’s later social life.

“Then so mote it be!” Andromeda said as she tapped her wand three times to the crystal.

Harry wasn’t sure what he was expecting. For some reason, no matter what he’d heard about the ritual previously, Harry thought it would end up being his luck that it would be like the Bene Gesserit pain box from the _Dune_ novel. However, the reality was more like listening to a piece of music like Bolero that kept building and building. The thought of the Dune novel made Harry think of the movie adaptation and he thought that perhaps the Litany of Fear was a good model. Harry tried to just clear his mind and focus on nothing but the crystal. Doing this seemed to calm the increasing buzzing of his spider-sense.

This became more and more difficult as the seconds ticked by. Another facet of the Determination which sometimes came into play was time. Very high and low scores often took longer. Harry could already hear muttering about how long he was taking. He had little doubt Draco was already hoping for Harry to be a blow-out Candle (as low scoring Magicals were derogatorily called) and not a Flame.

Sudden Harry felt as if someone flipped a switch and his blood burned. His vision blurred and he felt himself go from flaccid to painfully erect in a few seconds. Worse, he could feel his hand and feet talons moving like when a cat was thinking about kneading a blanket but wasn’t doing it yet. Once again, his wrists and forearms began to hurt, this time a lot more than previous times. And to top it all off, his teeth were beginning to hurt.

Finally the crescendo of what was going on finally reached a peak as the crystal flared bright enough to dazzle Harry even with his magical glasses. Harry cried out as numerous things happened all at once.

Andromeda gasped.

Harry’s talons shot into the floor and into the stone.

Harry felt a terrible pain in his lower lip.

Harry came hard, shooting multiple loads of cum into the magical diaper.

It also felt like his arms had orgasmed as well. Harry could feel a sticky-like substance pooling around the cuffs of his long-sleeved shirt.

His spider-sense had an intense burst before fading away.

Harry would have fallen to his knees but it took him a second to get his claws to retract from the stone. Andromeda rushed up to him, wand out and quickly did a diagnostic charm on him. Madam Pomfrey also came out from the tent to assist her. The Great Hall was filled with shouts and feverish comments.

Harry let himself be led away by Madam Pomfrey. His head was fuzzy but he distinctly heard Andromeda sternly tell the school nurse, “Remember your oaths, Poppy. Don’t let anyone, not even the Headmaster make you violate them.”

Harry idly realized that the tent was no ordinary tent as it was like a TARDIS in being bigger on the inside. Harry let himself be led to an examining table. He laid down and let the nurse do whatever she was doing. His head was fuzzy and his body itched all over. It still felt like his blood was tingling. And his lip really hurt.

Harry wasn’t sure how long he was on the table but Andromeda’s voice brought him back, “I’ll be taking him to the infirmary. Healer Strout has taken over. Let me get him out of your way before the next student comes in.

Harry drifted off again as he felt himself being levitated. It was a soothing feeling and he quickly fell asleep.

**OoOoO**

“Headmaster, I will reiterate this for the last time. You have no say in this. You have no say in your position as Chief Warlock nor in your capacity as Supreme Mugwump of the ECMS. This a health issue between Mr. Potter and Healer House. Unless you have a signed, written permission slip from his guardian on authenticated parchment and co-signed by an observer, you do not have any right to know anything about Mr. Potter’s condition until such time as he can tell you if he so chooses.”

Harry’s head was still fuzzy but as he started to wake up, he at least felt better. His lip, especially, wasn’t hurting anymore.

“Healer Tonks; I am merely trying to ascertain the nature of what befell Heir Potter.” came an older male voice that Harry couldn’t place.

There was a sound like someone striking a table, “Headmaster Dumbledore! Do I need to schedule you for a screening for dementia? Because you are acting like a broken record! For the last time! I don’t care if Merlin himself walks into that door and wants an update! You are not family and you’re certainly not under a Healer Oath! Right now, all you are is a school administrator who is being told, _**for the last time**_ , that when his student’s condition is better known, he will be notified when the student can return to class or whether he needs to be transferred for further medical treatment or observation. Any further meddling in medical procedures will result in a formal censure by Healer House. I would remind you that _**no one**_ has stayed long in _**any**_ position of power if they are censured by the medical community.”

This woke Harry up. It was obvious that Dumbledore was sniffing around about what happened to him. The Headmaster was definitely at the top of the list Harry had of people he didn’t want knowing about his abilities. It seemed, however, that Auntie Andromeda wasn’t going to take it from the so-called Leader of the Light.

Dumbledore must have realized this as well as Harry heard him sigh. It was an excellent example of a passive-aggressive sigh Mary-Jane liked to use on him, “Very well, Healer Tonks. If you must be obstinate than I will await your report.”

“I will tell you more when I know more and what I tell you will be restricted to your need to know as Headmaster. Not one word more,” Andromeda said frostily.

Harry laid still, even after he heard a door open and close. He was still trying to figure out what had happened to him. His memory was fuzzy.

“You can open your eyes, Harry. I know you’re awake,” Andromeda said kindly.

Harry did so and struggled to sit up. He realized that he was wearing different trousers but he was shirtless. “What happened to my tunic?” Harry asked. He vaguely remembered something happening around his wrists.

Andromeda took out her wand and did an intricate pattern. Whatever the spell did, it seemed to please her. Seeing his questioning look, she made a gesture to the room around her, “All magical medical areas have a series of very intricate protections built into them. These are very secret and powerful protections which have been worked on for centuries. Like our Muggle colleagues, we take medical privacy _very seriously_ in the Magical world. I was just checking in again. Sadly, Hogwarts is old and powerful. There has always been a worry the Hogwarts Headmaster might find a way to subvert them. So far, however, that hasn’t happened. Even the portraits here are special ones designed specifically to help guard patient’s privacy and report only to the Head of Healer Hall.”

Harry nodded, “Good to know. So what happened to my tunic?

Andromeda gave him an appraising look, “I had to cut it off you at the elbows. The rest were stuck to your rest by a very interesting web-like substance that finally dissolved after an hour. So beyond your eyes, is there any reason you decided to hide that you have hand and feet talons along with the fangs and whatever is going on with your arms?”

Harry blinked, “Fangs? What fangs?” Harry thrust a hand up to feel his teeth; they felt fine.”

Andromeda shook her head, “They’re retractable, Harry. Like your talons. While a Healer, I’ve done a fair share of training on magical and mundane animals in my time. I was able to massage your gums and they popped back in. You’re lucky that you’re immune to the venom in them as well.”

“What?!?” Harry exclaimed.

“Oh and while we are at it, given I now knew to do a deeper search, you want to explain how you’re as strong as a giant?” Andromeda asked with a tone familiar with any child who knew they’d been caught by their mother in a lie.”

Harry sat there, looking at his wrists. He could tell there was a faint slit of an opening that hadn’t been there before. He’d shot out a spider-web out of his wrists?

“Well Harry? I can’t help you if I don’t know the particulars,” Andromeda prompted.

“Okay, well...uhm...it all started with a school trip to London,” Harry finally said.

**XxXxX**

**DADA CLASSROOM, FOURTH FLOOR, HOGWARTS, SCOTLAND – SEPTEMBER 7** **th** **, 2010 – AFTERNOON**

Harry sat and fumed as he watched the stuttering professor bumble his way through his opening welcome speech. From the little sighs to his right, Harry could tell that Susan Bones wasn’t impressed either. However, Harry wasn’t angry because of the professor’s speech impediment. He was angry because the level of disquiet Harry had felt around the professor had morphed into a constant buzzing from his spider-sense the minute the classroom door shut.

Professor Snape had mentioned that Professor Quirinus Quirrell had been acting odd ever since returning from Albania. The stuttering was apparently due to the vampire attack he had survived which also accounted for the garlic in the turban. Normally Harry would take acting out of sorts after a vampire attack as sort of a given. But nothing about Harry’s life had been normal since he’d been bitten by what he now knew was called an acromantula. Andromeda had easily identified it from his description. The fact there was a known colony in the Forbidden Forest and it had been found at King’s Cross implied some student had tried to take one home and it had escaped.

And it was from that irradiated acromantula that he’d gotten his powers. Powers that were warning him that he was in danger. Oddly enough, the feeling of danger spiked every time Professor Quirrell turned his back to Harry. It was putting him on edge and Harry didn’t like it.

It didn’t help that every day since the Determination had been a pain. It was rare for someone to have to be taken to the infirmary after the ritual. Luckily for Harry, Andromeda already had a cover story which easily fit a lot of the preconceptions surrounding the Boy-Who-Lived. Andromeda had merely stated to the Headmaster that she believed complications from the attack on Harry by the Dark Lord were to blame. Harry’s magic, Andromeda had explained, had been held back due to the residual dark magic and thus becoming released all at once caused Harry to collapse. It was a brilliant lie given that the Determination ritual was designed to fix issues like that. The Dark Lord part was better given Harry did have a lingering dark magic to him even if Andromeda felt it was now more in line with acromantulas being dark creatures.

Harry was gratified at first that the Headmaster seemed unsurprised by this news. In fact, Harry felt like the Headmaster was expecting something like it which made Harry suspicious. That Dumbledore had been having him under observation his whole life had always made Harry wonder what the old wizard knew that he wasn’t telling.

The only thing Harry could think of related to Voldemort. It occurred to him one day back when he was starting at Stonewall. He’d fallen in with a new online gaming group which suited Harry’s need to mostly stay at home. It was after a comment from one in his group about if you didn’t see a villain’s body, it wasn’t dead. This saying niggled at the back of Harry’s mind for a long time. When he finally found out more about the Killing Curse, this comment came back in full. The Killing Curse didn’t leave scars. They certainly didn’t disintegrate a body. So what had happened to Voldemort? There still was the unanswered question of why the Dark Lord would try to kill him as a child when there were better options available for him.

Beyond being suspicious of the Headmaster as well as worried that he was again very much on Dumbledore’s radar, the student body was getting on his nerves. He’d been told that his Determination was easily the strongest of his year and the brightest in recent memory. While that was good in one respect, Harry was learning of the downsides highlighted in the health seminar. Now that all his year’s magical core had been stimulated, it was as if a switch had been thrown. Suddenly it seemed everyone was _very_ interested in the opposite sex. The stronger the witch or wizard, the more the attraction.

Given Harry was an heir to the Ancient and Most Noble House of Potter, was wealthy, was the Boy-Who-Lived many had read (untrue) stories about growing up, now he was radiating a power that they all learned was a major way Magicals found sexual and life partners. Learning that Magicals had a sexuality more in line with gorillas just made it worse.

A lot of his fellow wizards looked at him as the wizard who would ‘poach’ more than a few witches, leaving fewer for them to court. And the witches were sizing him up as the ones who wanted to be poached. The last few days, Harry felt like he’d suddenly been dropped into one of Aunt Petunia’s day-time dramas.

So the constant buzzing of his spider-sense was making an already on-edge Harry into a really irritated one. One that finally snapped.

“Professor?” Harry called out.

“Hmm? What-t is it, Mist-t-ter Pot-pot-ter?” Professor Quirrell asked as he turn around from writing on the blackboard.

“You said that one of the primary goals of this class is to recognize danger and react to it quickly and decisively. Is that true?” Harry asked as he stood up. The mixed class of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs looked at him curiously. His tone alerted most that Harry was angry.

“That-t is correct-ect,” Professor Quirrell said with a slight frown.

“So in the magical world, if you are in doubt, what is best? To attack in the face of an unknown or flee without knowing what you are facing is capable of?” Harry asked.

Professor Quirrell looked surprised for a moment before an odd look of disgust appeared and then quickly was replaced with the normal vacuous look that seemed to be the default expression for the stuttering Professor. “Well, most-t would counsel retreat-eat. I, however, feel that-at it-t’s better-ter t-to attack-ack, especially if the foe is not-ot expec-pect-ting an attack-ack.”

Harry nodded at this, “Good to know, Professor.” Then to the surprise of all, Harry leapt into the air and did a twisting flip to land behind Quirrell. Harry had to smile that at least Hogwarts’ architecture meant most classrooms had high, vaulted ceilings even as he punched Quirrell hard in the kidneys.

The classroom erupted in screams. It didn’t help that two such screams came from Quirrell. One of surprise and agony; the other a high-pitch howl of rage. This howl gave Harry a target. He reached out and grabbed the Professor’s ludicrous turban and yanked hard. The disgusting face growing out of the back of Quirrell’s head caused more screams and even Harry gave out a “What the bloody fuck?”

“Curse you Potter!” the face practically hissed at him. “I don’t know how you detected me but I am still Voldemort, the wizard who has cheated death!” Quirrell suddenly stood up from where he had fallen across his desk and swiveled toward Harry with his wand out. He was also screaming in pain as if the movement was hurting him.

As Harry dove away from a nasty purple looking curse, he wondered if Voldemort was in full control of the body. It might explain why the Professor was screaming incoherently even as he was rapidly casting spells at Harry.

Spells that could easily hit some of the students. Worse, out of the 10 heirs at Hogwarts, six of them were in the room so Harry has to act quickly even if it meant blowing his cover. He did another flip into the air to avoid a spell he recognized as one the witch had tried to use on him. Harry knew it was probable that Voldemort was going to follow up with the same spell that the witch used.

Sure enough, Voldemort’s piercing voice screamed, “Avada…”

But the Dark Lord wasn’t able to complete the spell as Harry again sprang at the wizard. Instead of slicing Quirrell with his talons, Harry had decided to put his super-strength to use by grabbing Quirrell’s wand arm and his throat. Doing this ended up having both Harry and Quirrell surprised by the result.

“Master! What sorcery is this? I burn? I’m burning!” Quirrell screamed as a black fire began to catch around his neck and wrist. These flames were horrifically painful to Harry but the flames, whatever they were, were not burning him so Harry gritted his teeth and held on.

Which he didn’t have to do for more than a few seconds as the dark fire rapidly spread along Quirrell’s flesh. Harry leapt away from the burning wizard when Quirrell’s arm began to disintegrate. The class went eerily silent as with a last burble of pain, their Professor collapsed in a pile of smoke and robes.

“Harry?” Susan Bones finally whispered but Harry held up a hand causing her to stop in her tracks.

“Wait! We’re not out of the Forbidden Forest yet,” Harry said. As he did, a vaguely man-shaped mist began to rise out of the pile of robes and what was left of Professor Quirrell. “This is only a setback, Potter! I am immortal and more than a match for the likes of you! Feel the wrath of Voldemort!” the mist hissed as it dove towards Harry.

To the surprise of all, Harry stood his ground even as the mist enveloped him. It became obvious why as the mist recoiled with an unearthly shriek. “Didn’t like that, did you Voldemort? I guess the Boy-Who-Lived story has some truth to it after all. My parents died for me and that sacrifice lives on in me. You can’t touch me, you diseased wraith!”

“You have not seen the last of me, Potter! I will return and have my revenge!” Voldemort hissed out before disappearing out one of the windows letting in the cool afternoon breeze.

The room fell into silence as the students tried to process what they’d just seen. This was finally broken by a soft, breathy voice, “Really? The most powerful dark wizard since Grindelwald and that is what we get? ‘ _You have not seen the last of me_ ’ is the best he could do?”

Harry turned to see the utter look of disappointment on Luna’s face. The rest of the class also looked at her like she had two heads. She threw up her hands, “What? Am I the only one here who thinks the Dark Lord needs better material? If he had had a body, he probably would have fingered his mustache and left in a swirl of a cape, shaking his fist at Heir Potter.”

All of the students just stared at the blonde Ravenclaw before Harry began to laugh. This laugh proved infectious so that when the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall burst into the room, they were shocked to find most of the students laughing uproariously.

**XxXxX**

**CHAPTER NOTES**

Beyond not liking JKR’s ugly = evil riff, I never liked how Snape was shown to have greasy hair and generally seemed to be portrayed as unkempt. Even his house was shown to be like that. Frankly, I figure if there is one professor who is going to be a neat freak, it would be Snape. I wouldn’t think not washing carefully while dealing with potions would not end well.

As mentioned previously, this chapter shows why Harry’s time at Hogwarts is going to be mostly off camera given his spider-sense mostly puts a kibosh on pretty much all of the canon threats to him. Also, as mentioned at the beginning, I’m referring to a lot of my own personal “Harryverse” stuff but I’m trying not to reiterate it. The sexuality of Magicals is one that I have already begun to delve into in my stories on FF.net like _Paging Dr. Bell_ and I will show more of the “Health Seminar” in a future chapter of _Harry Potter and Hogwarts U_.

**Reminder** : ECMS is the European Confederation of Magical States. Dumbledore is the Supreme Mugwump of that just as there is a Supreme Mugwump of the MACUSA and other bodies. They all answer to the Absolute Mugwump of the ICW.


End file.
